National Treasure: Into the West
by RedFalcon2419
Summary: Ben, Abigail and Riley find clues to a lost treasure hidden in the diary of a young pioneer girl. However, the quest to find the treasure soon becomes a race, with one man's life hanging in the balance. Soundtrack Now Available End of Ch. 1.
1. Out of Nowhere

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 1: Out of Nowhere

The red sun rose over a blanket of mist which laid draped across the hilly landscape of northern Virginia. The tall trees of maple and ash and buildings stood silhouetted against the morning light to those early risers, whether it be the paper boy riding his old red bike down the narrow tarmac road or the two elderly women working as gardeners for the historic estate at the end of Lowell Drive. They snipped off the dead bulbs from the blossoming rosebushes which lined the driveway, occasionally glancing at the brilliant reflections of the sunlight against the large windows of the Carroll mansion. Up the pebble walk, a red Ferrari was parked crookedly against the side of the path. On the other side of the car, a crushed marble flower pot was exposed to be the casualty of the careless driver, it's contents spilled across the freshly cut grass. Near the front doors of the mansion, the figure of a woman in a dark-colored robe could be seen peering through the stained glass window adorning the center of the door.

"_That Riley Poole_." Abigail thought to herself as she ascended the marble steps of her castle, wearing her soft white bear slippers and her hair tied into a ponytail to prevent bed head, a thought which sent shivers up and down her spine and gave her the sudden urge to find a fine-toothed comb and her curling iron. She chuckled to herself at Riley's mishap with his car, scratching her head as she yawned and stretched her arms out briefly. With the daily newspaper in hand, she reached the top of the stairs and continued down the hall, passing the countless pieces of furniture, vases, lamps, globes, and other historical artifacts. Today was going to be a good day, as it was the first day off in nearly three months. The tranquil country setting just outside Leesburg, Virginia was the perfect spot to enjoy a day off, as there was ample things for a history fanatic like her to do in the home, or three history fanatics, to be specific. Today was going to be different. Today she was spending time with someone who'd once been a sharp thorn in her side, and was now able to knock the shoes clean off her feet and send them flying around the room like boomerangs with just the simplest look. Ben Gates had her smitten, once again.

She quietly entered the large bedroom to see his still figure secluded under the maroon comforter which covered their king-size bed. As she slowly crept closer, nearly tripping over his running shoes, she slipped off her slippers and let her robe drop to the floor, exposing flannel blue-and-pink plaid pajamas. She crawled back into bed and curled up next to him, waiting for him to wake up. She laid her head on his shoulder, gently blowing her breath onto his face. She watched carefully as he wrinkled his nose.

"Mornin', Ben."

"Mornin', coffee breath." She looked at him crossly as he cautiously opened one eye. For a moment she glared, before softly breaking into a crackling giggle.

"Oh come on," Abigail said sarcastically. "My breath isn't that bad."

"Well, if it's not the breath than it must be the coffee."

"So, why don't you try making the coffee every now and then mister?"

Ben paused for a moment. "Okay, let me try to decode this one. You used the term "so" in the form of a constructive decision and in a non-threatening manner, so I'm going to conclude that you are just making a suggestion." He said analytically. "Am I correct, Dr. Chase?" Abigail grinned slyly.

"You most certainly are, Mr. Brown."

Ben chuckled as he pulled Abigail onto his chest. As she laid on top of him, the two of them shared some soft kisses before Abigail laid her head down on his chest. While she listened to his heart beat, she asked him what the would do on the unusually rare event that they would both have the day off from their jobs.

"We could drive down to Beverly Triton, maybe a day at the beach might do us some good." Abigail suggested, thinking of one of their favorite summer getaways on the Maryland coast.

"Nah, I haven't quite gotten over the sunburns from our last visit there." Ben answered, cringing at the thought of the skin peeling off of his back. "How about a visit out to Norfolk? I haven't seen the maritime museum in Salem in a while."

"Are you sure they'll let us back in after what happened last time?"

"Hey, that was just an accident. There was a clearly visible glob of glue on that model's hull and I was just wiping it off."

"You made a gaping hole in the _Mayflower_'s side." Abigail said. "I wouldn't quite call that a correction."

Ben chuckled silently at her remarks. "I guess you're right. So, would you rather just spend the day at home?"

"Sounds like a date." Abigail answered, wrapping her arms around his torso. He pulled his arms up around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head, holding her for a few moments before glancing down towards her in a confused manner.

"What?" She asked.

"Are you not wearing a bra?" Abigail giggled a little bit.

"Hey, if I'm gonna go searching for buried treasure at two o'clock in the morning, I'm gonna do it free and happy."

"Aye Aye, Captain." Ben answered in a coarse voice.

* * *

"Dammit Riley, do I have to beat you again?" Abigail snapped sternly and sarcastically to her friend and fellow treasure hunter, who sat across from her at the breakfast table.

"What'd I do now?" Riley asked with a slight and sarcastic moan. "I haven't touched any more of those little wooden figurines or used those red and black saucers as checkers."

"Ask the Geranium by the front walk."

"Oh, so that's what that was."

Ben glared at Riley from across the Kitchen Island, where he was flipping pancakes.

"Riley, you know the rules. You're supposed to park your car at the gatehouse, leave the keys with the gatekeeper, have him drive you to the house-"

"_Mom_!" Riley whined. Abigail rolled her eyes and looked towards Ben. "A little help might be nice."

"Alright then." Ben said, crossing his arms with spatula still in hand. "Here's an idea. Riley, If you keep your car parked at the gatehouse, you're free to use the guest bedroom of your choice during the weekends."

Riley slowly nodded his head. He commuted on a regular basis between his townhouse in New York and his flat in Baltimore, which was closer to the publisher of his books. Since they discovered the lost city of Cibola the previous year, Riley had completed two more books; _American Myths and Legends Revealed_ and _Behind Closed Doors: What the Government doesn't want you to see_. He spent the weekends and most of his time off with his two best friends. When he stayed with them he usually slept on a pull-out couch in the spacious living room in front of the monstrous plasma screen which adorned the green and white painted walls.

"If I can take the red room, it's a deal." Riley said, facing Abigail and holding up his fork.

"Alright, as long as you clean up after yourself." Abigail answered, the two of them closing their agreement with a small clang of their forks. "I'm going to check that bedroom and bathroom daily, and if I find so much as a toenail clipping on the floor, you're really gonna get it." She said sarcastically.

Ben finished piling the last of the pancakes onto the plate he had and carried them to the table. As the three of them shared breakfast, Ben thought to himself of how things had played out for him in the past few years. He'd found not one _but two _long lost treasures and had restored his family's honor. He was still trying to take in everything that had happened. He thought of all the years of ridicule his family had faced, even from one of their own. It was a real gift to have his Dad back in with the family tradition of Treasure Hunting, but the biggest gift to Ben sat next to him at the table.

"Ben?" Abigail asked, snapping him out of his deep gaze into the stack of pancakes sitting on the table. "Unless you plan on eating those through your eyes, you might want to grab a few."

"Oh, of course." Ben responded, sticking his fork into two of them and dragging them to his own plate. He looked over towards Riley, who was devouring a stack of eight pancakes at once, all individually drenched in syrup. "Maybe I should have made more." Ben snickered.

"Nope, this suits me fine." Riley replied, mouth half full. As he swallowed, he noticed Abigail staring at him in that way in which made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Are you still mad about the pot?"

"You have the manners of a hedgehog, you know." She said before taking another bite of her single pancake. Two seconds later, she released a small but high pitched belch which sounded almost like a frog croaking. Ben and Riley stopped eating for a few moments and glared right back at her, just before the three of them started laughing.

* * *

Ben, Abigail, and Riley spent the calm Saturday afternoon in the Manor Library, amongst a rather large collection of books and documents Ben and Abigail had been building up over the past year. It was a huge room, almost big enough to fit Ben's old apartment building inside. It reached from the second floor up to the ceiling of the third story, with vaulted ceilings and wood carvings reminiscent of the post-colonial era. The bookcases were built into the walls and reached all the way to the ceiling, accessible with the use of rolling ladders along the walls. There was a large double-sided desk in the center of the room, one Ben had built himself specifically for him and Abigail to do research together. They were furnished from oak which was stained to a darker shade to match the rest of the wood paneling in the room, and it spanned almost the full length of the room. Each side had two computers; one more standard model with word processors and web access, while the other contained more complicated analysis programs for examining documents and for assistance in research. Half the desktop space on each side was occupied by a grid of fluorescent lighting under a thick sheet of glass for examining transparent documents, as well as a large magnifying glass suspended by a retractable arm. Each side was also equipped with an office chair which rolled on a fixed track along the desk as well as a multitude of drawers and cabinets to store all the materials for analysis and preservation. The room was also furnished with two sitting room sets of furniture, both upholstered in the same maroon leather.

On that day, Riley was perched atop a large ottoman in front of a large TV screen, which Ben had automatically programmed for quick access to channels on history documentaries and primitive to modern technology. Riley was more interested in the technology than Ben and Abigail were, and was watching a documentary on the construction of the Hoover Dam. Abigail was working on the examinations of some letters written by some of the first colonists who settled in the hilly lands which now made up the states of Virginia and North Carolina, while Ben was slowly skimming through Riley's latest book, which he reluctantly said he would read following two months of begging from Riley. He was impressed with some of the material, and he did admit he admired Riley's clear enthusiasm in expressing his thoughts and theories about several topics and conspiracy theories. At the same time, Riley's approach didn't seem to pick apart the subject in the manner Ben usually preferred to. Riley's research mostly focused on _how _history worked, while Ben's approach also included _why_ history worked the way it did. To Ben, history itself was like a giant puzzle, each piece equally important in one way or another, and fitting all those pieces together to see both how and why things came to be never ceased to fascinate him.

"Hey, Riley?" Ben called, looking to get his friend's attention.

"Yeah, bud?" Riley responded, glancing away fron the TV.

"Question for you."

"Shoot."

"You still take requests on which conspiracies you put into your books?"

"Yeah, why?"

"How many of those people from the truth movement were among them?"

"Six-Hundred and Ninety-Seven." Riley responded with a sigh. Abigail looked over at Riley curiously, having never heard this topic of discussion before.

"Truth Movement?" Abigail asked. "You mean from 9/11?"

"Yep." Riley responded. "Didn't answer a single one of them."

Abigail knew very well why he hadn't responded to any of those requests. That day, one of the darkest days in American history, as well as world history, had been witnessed directly by all three of them. Abigail remembered seeing the smoke from the Washington Mall, where she had gone to buy a new skirt after accidentally tearing her best work skirt after a fall down the stairs of her townhouse in Washington DC. She remembered looking for the one which would match her favorite blouse, black with two white bands down the middle. She had just found the right skirt, when she heard the explosion. She remembered looking up at the ceiling of JCPenney's, seeing the glass in the light fixtures rattling. After buying the skirt, she remembered going outside and joining the massive crowd of people standing in the parking lot, looking at the funnel of smoke billowing from the hole in the side of the Pentagon. She could remember the smell of the burning jet fuel from in the sky. For years following the disaster, every time she flew on a plane she'd get the worst case of the chills from the haunting memories.

Ben and Riley, on the other hand, had a much closer experience with the disaster that shocked the world on that terrible morning. Abigail remembered her first real date with Ben at this little café on the Maryland coastline outside Washington DC. She remembered asking his reasons for his almost alarming passion for American History, which was almost equivalent to her own. He told her of the stories from his grandfather about the clues which had led them to find the Templar Treasure, as well as one terrible roadblock he and Riley had encountered while trying to find the _Charlotte_. During the years they had been searching for the Treasure, both Ben and Riley had taken up odd jobs. Ben had worked as a Radio DJ in Pittsburg for a few years while Riley worked as an assistant with Metlife Insurance. Through one of his former co-workers, Riley got the name of a private investor who worked in New York with researchers and historians on projects involving colonial or pre-colonial history. On that Tuesday morning in September, Ben and Riley were on their way to meet the investor at Windows on the World Restaurant at the World Trade Center. They'd been to the restaurant in the North Tower several times over the years, and that along with the food court in the South Tower, were among their favorite hanging out spots in New York. Abigail could remember Ben's story, word for word.

_We got to the Sky Lobby on the 78__th__ Floor just after twenty minutes to nine o'clock. Riley and I still had the donuts we'd gotten at the Starbucks on the street a few minutes earlier. There were people everywhere on their way to work on the floors above us. I remember I had this pen and I kept clicking the button on the top because I was anxious to get to the restaurant to meet this guy. From what Riley had told me, if there was anybody who would believe in their story of the Charlotte, it would be him. It was right after I'd pressed the up button to signal the elevator which wold take us to the 106__th__ floor that it happened. The building shook so violently that it almost seemed to jump from it's foundation in the ground. There was this huge blast of hot air that blew me against the wall, while Riley was knocked from his feet and rolled against the wall near where I had been blown. I had my eyes closed as the shaking slowly stopped, but I remembered cracking my eyes open for a few moments and I could see the flames. I still don't know why Riley and I weren't burned at all. _

_Everybody was just in shock over what had happened. At first everybody assumed some kind of machinery had exploded in the elevator shaft somewhere above us, but before long word began buzzing around that a large plane had struck the building, about fifteen floors above us. I remember helping Riley to his feet, and seeing he had quite a bump to the head, as his forehead was bleeding from the side. With a lot of other people, we took the advice of the executives who were running around telling everybody to get out. We slowly started making our way down the staircase. At the 73__rd__ floor, we stopped and I ran into the bathroom to get some paper towel for Riley's head, and when I came back I found Riley trying to get something from a vending machine. I remember thinking 'of all the times for him to have the munchies', but that didn't matter. After a few moments, we heard the second plane strike the South Tower. By then, we were both scared out of our minds and we knew we had to get down, and get out. Riley was holding a bunch of paper towels to his head as he walked down the stairs, me right behind him. I remember hearing my phone going off, and I checked it and saw it was my Dad. I didn't want to freak him out, so I turned my phone off and put it back in my pocket. At the 56__th__ Floor, we stopped to help a few men bust down a door that was jammed in it's frame, and helped out a few workers who had been trapped. I thought to myself how the structure of the building in itself was like one giant balancing act, and the plane's impact made it shift so much that many doors must have been wedged shut in their frames. People were checking each floor we passed, helping those who were trapped. By the time we had gotten to the 44__th__ floor Sky Lobby, we could tell things were getting bad. Smoke was filling some of the rooms and it was so hot in the building Riley and I both had out sport coats under our arms. Below the 44__th__ floor, things slowed down tremendously as more people were trying to get out. There were firefighters coming up the stairs, lugging all their gear to try to help the other people in the floors above us escape. It was when we got the the 14__th__ floor that it happened. This big roar could be heard coming from outside and everybody in the stairwell was screaming as the lights flickered out. I remember putting my hand on Riley's shoulder in the darkness, and feeling this large blast of hot air shooting up the stairwell. When we finally got to the lobby on the ground level, we saw what had happened to cause that great rumble, then barely fifteen minutes later, from the street, we saw it again. We both Ran as the North Tower came crashing down, chased by this huge wall of dust which seemed to swallow up New York. I remember pushing Riley into a Subway just as the cloud swept past. As we dusted off our clothes, I looked and saw the restaurant was packed with people doing the same thing. By the time we crossed the river, we were covered in dust which seemed to stick to everything. Manhattan was nowhere in sight – that's how thick the smoke was. _

_When the smoke cleared and we both saw the towers were gone, both of us just stood there at the edge of the Hudson River. We'd heard more of the news reports of what had happened, but it was still hard to fathom what had happened to our country, to the world. We both spent days in New York with the volunteers, helping with cleanup and stuff, then driving back to Washington DC every few days or so. I remember I had to take four showers before all the dust and soot came out. But that didn't wipe away the fact that we'd both witnessed one of the darkest hours of United States History. It was a clear reminder of several other incidents when our freedom has been threatened, and how on that day, so many people rose to the challenge. Many paid for it with their lives, many more did not because of them. Ever since that morning, History had been seen by me in a whole new way. It's has more meaning to it once you fully realize the sacrifices people made for it, and for this country. _

From across the room, a dull buzzing sound came from a white metal plate housing the intercom system, snapping Abigail out of her daze.

"I'll get it." Abigail said, pulling off her white latex gloves and walking over to the panel.

"Yes?"

"The mail is here, madam." A soft voice said from the speakers.

"Anything important?"

"There is a package for Mr. Gates, and it's marked as being _fragile_."

Abigail glanced back at Ben, who had looked up from his book after hearing the word _fragile_, the magic word of preservationalists. She smiled and turned back towards the intercom panel. "Bring it up, please." There was a beep which signaled the butler would be on his way up. The fact that they had a butler still astounded Ben, but it seemed to be alright considering he was one of only eight hired hands that he and Abigail had to help them keep up the estate. A few moments later, a knock on the door announced the parcel's arrival. The door opened and a young man with a pale face peered into the room.

"Mr. Gates?" The man asked.

"Yes, Ernest?" Ben responded, setting Riley's book on the desk and rising from his seat.

"The delivery man needs your signature on this form." Ernest said, holding up a clipboard as Ben approached, looking curiously as the square shaped parcel. He signed the form as fast as he could and Ernest handed him the package. After Ernest left, Ben closely examined the package. Abigail looked in curiously, and Riley rose from his ottoman to get a look as well. As Ben held it in his hands, he saw there was a yellow sticker on the front with the word "FRAGILE" printed in bold letters.

"That's the magic word." Riley stated. Ben looked and also noticed that it was addressed to his old apartment in Washington DC. The return address caught him as a bit strange.

M. Hughes

77189 County Road J

Clarkville, Colorado

"Colorado?" Abigail stated. "Who do you know in Colorado?"

"Haven't a clue." Ben replied as he felt the package in his hands. He could feel that it was wrapped in several layers of bubble wrap, and it seemed to be a book of some sort. Ben took it to his desk and after putting on a pair of latex gloves, he carefully opened up the brown paper envelope with a fine-bladed letter opener. It did reveal a dark object surrounded by several layers of bubble wrap. Ben carefully cut away at the bubble wrap and after a few moments, came across something that almost knocked the wind out of him. Abigail gasped when she saw the contents of the package, gently holding her hand to her mouth. Ben laid down on the table a small journal, roughly six inches by eight inches in size, and about five-eighths of an inch thick. It had a dark brown leather cover, and was bound along the side as well as bound shut with thick leather cords. On the front cover, a line of faded letters cut directly into the leather revealed the author of the journal. The letters could be clearly read because of their gold-yellow coloring. With a small fluorescent light, Ben shined the light on the cover and confirmed the full name of the author.

"_Sophie Jane Hughes_."

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 2: Sophie's Diary


	2. Sophie's Treasure

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 2: Sophie's Treasure

"Is it really the one?" Abigail asked, looking closely at the book resting on the desk. She blinked in disbelief at the object lying before her. Riley looked at his friends in confusion as Ben stared in silence at the book.

"I do believe it is." Ben said wth a small grin, examining the cover of the book. It had obviously been packed away for a very long period of time. Sand and pieces of dirt and grass began to scatter onto the glass covering the light grid. He carefully removed the bindings holding it shut and slowly opened the front cover.

"Careful, Ben." Abigail instructed. "It might come apart."

"Alright." Ben said, taking a deep breath. Riley looked up at the two of them in amazement. He stared for a few moments until both of them glanced back at him.

"No squabbling?"

"Nope." Ben responded, opening the journal completely and resting the front cover face down on the desk, after placing a piece of tissue down for the cover to rest on. "I'm taking in her words better."

"Ah, right." Riley said, nodding as he thought about the stack of relationship books in Abigail's closet. "The main keys to the success of a relationship."

Abigail shot another glare at him. "You know, it might not hurt you very much to take a look at a few of those books."

"I'll think about it," Riley answered. "If I ever have a four-legged piece of furniture I need to stabilize."

"Will you two knock it off!" Ben exclaimed sharply as he turned their focus back to the diary. Riley lifted an eyebrow and stared in silence.

"The pages are blank." He responded with a dull, disappointed tone. "Why would somebody send you a booklet of blank pages?"

"They're not blank, Riley." Ben said, pulling the magnifying glass over and switching the light surrounding the lens on. He looked closely at the paper and saw roughly defined scratches embedded in the paper, evidence something had been written on it with a fountain pen. "The ink's faded, or invisible."

Ben took another deep breath and turned towards Abigail. "You want to take this one?"

Abigail smiled and leaned towards him. "Yes, I will take this one, and I do appreciate you making the effort." With that, Ben opened a cabinet door near where he was sitting and revealed to a surprised Riley a small refrigerator containing various kinds of fruit. He then pulled a drawer out from just underneath the desktop and took out a small box of cue tips. Meanwhile, Abigail returned to her side of the desk and retrieved an older-modeled white hair dryer.

"Wait, isn't that the-" Riley stated.

"Yep." Abigail interrupted. "The very one we used on the Declaration." Riley laughed as Abigail looked down at Ben. "I keep it as a good luck charm, per-se."

Ben surrendered his seat to her and watched closely as Abigail put on her own pair of latex gloves and began to spread a very thin coat of lemon juice across the front page.

"Ben, doesn't this bother you at all?" Riley asked quietly.

"It's like taking a bullet."

"Excuse me?" Abigail intervened, shooting her venomous glare up at him.

"Nothing, sweetpea."

She grinned playfully. "I know this is hard for you, Ben." She stated, looking up at him. "Why don't you do the next page?"

Ben nodded with a small smile. "That'll work." He said, kissing the top of her head. Riley rolled his eyes as Ben hovered over for a second as she finished coating the first page. She then quickly plugged the hairdryer into the electrical line on the floor, and then paused for a moment before starting the hair dryer. She looked up at Ben, then to Riley. She then took a deep breath, turned the dryer on to "Low", and carefully directed the stream of heat onto the page. Within a few seconds, Abigail's face lit up with excitement as writing began to magically appear. As Abigail heated the page to bring out the full contrast of the ink, Ben took notice of the condition of the page. Normally, when documents go for a period like 150 years without someone making an attempt at preservation, which there was no evidence of anybody attempting to do so, even with the most primitive methods, the pages should have rapidly deteriorated. However, the pages of this journal, which Ben originally suspected would have faded to a light tan, were only faded to a dull yellow. Scratching his head, Riley seemed to be lost in the transition to the stage Ben and Abigail were in.

"Wait a moment," Riley said, looking to both Ben and Abigail. "You both seem to know who this woman was. Who was she?"

"As the cover states, her name was Sophie Hughes." Ben answered.

"Yeah, I got that."

"Her story is an old folklore." Abigail stated, eagerly touching up on the first page to make the text more legible. "From what I've heard, most people think it's just an old legend."

"Okay, and apparently they were wrong about that." Riley stated, rubbing the back of his head. Ben looked at his friend, then, almost completely by heart, told what he knew of the story.

"Sophie Hughes was a Welsh immigrant. She came here with her father and two sisters sometime in the 1850's and they were headed for Utah, I believe."

"Mormons?" Riley asked.

"Not sure." Ben responded.

"I don't think they were." Abigail added. "I remember I did a paper on this story in college."

"Really?" Ben asked. "You never mentioned that."

"It was based on a study of common folklores, and I found out that the only real evidence to support the story was that they may have found out who Sophie's father was."

"Yes," Ben added. "James Lawrence Hughes, better known as J.L. Hughes, and he was a chemist. If I can recall correctly from the records I read, he was born in 1813 and lived in North Wales. He had been married, fathered five children, and was widowed, but it never mentioned his wife's name. It just mentioned that she died around 1854, and that they had five children; two stillborn sons and three daughters. The daughters were recorded as being born in 1844, 1849, and 1852."

"One of whom may have been Sophie." Abigail said. "Ben, did it give dates of death for James or his daughters?"

"No, not that I saw." Ben answered, recollecting from the research he'd done on the folklore when he was studying in England back when he was in college. "That question on the records was blank."

"That may have been because they came to the United States." Abigail concluded. "Unfortunately, record keeping is a bit more of a recent invention."

"Here, hang on a second." Riley interrupted. "I've never heard this story before and I'm really getting lost over this, so could I perhaps hear it?"

Ben glanced at Abigail. "You up for story time?" He asked humorously.

"I think that's more your area of expertise." Abigail responded. "I can keep working on this if you want to tell him."

Ben hesitated. He did want to take part in revealing the message in the diary, to see if the legend was really true. On the other hand, he did have the sudden urge to switch to the storytelling mode, which he had perfected at very well ever since his grandfather first told him of the Templar's Treasure. Sophie's story was one of his best, so he decided to spill it for Riley.

"Alright." Ben said with a sigh. "I'll let you finish that and I'll tell our little Riley a story." The two of them snickered and Riley rolled his eyes again.

"Oh, come on Riley." Ben laughed. "We're just messing with ya."

"I know, I know." Riley mumbled as he slouched into one of the leather armchairs in the sitting area behind the desk. Ben left Abigail's side and sat down in the chair next to Riley's.

"Okay, this is the legend of Sophie's Treasure."

_The story began in 1622. A Spanish Merchant named Juanto Merez had come across two abandoned ships floating deserted off the coast of Portugal. He and his men almost immediately identified the ship as a pirate ship. Upon boarding the vessel, they found it filled with gold, jewels, statues, dishes, swords, furniture, and all sorts of riches, all adorned in gold and wode varieties of jewels coming from all across Europe. It became apparent that the crew had mutinied against their captain. The captain had secretly planned to kill all his men, so he could keep their vast stores of treasure to himself. When some of the crew found out of the plan, a battle broke out aboard the ship between those who had discovered the truth and the captain and his men who remained loyal to their ship's master. Eventually, all but one of the twenty-six men were killed, and the lone survivor lived only long enough to tell Merez and his men what had happened. He also informed the men that the new king of Spain, King Phillip IV, had sent his men to retrieve the treasure after it was said to have been stolen from various ships passing back and forth between Spain and the New World. With his dying breath, the wounded pirate told Merez of a place where the treasure could be safe from the king's wrath. He told them of a large mountain in the new world which sheltered a large cave, big enough to hide the treasure from those who would use it for ill purposes. The pirate died, and after discovering the vast amount of gold, silver, and jewels hidden aboard the ship, they decided to heed the pirate's warning. They knew of their new king, who was only seventeen years old at the time. They knew of the war which he and his men were holding to regain control of the Dutch Lands to the east, and the treasure would most likely go towards the war effort rather towards the good of the people of Spain. Considering himself a man of dignity, Merez took it upon himself and his men to protect the treasure. They had heard of the rapidly growing colonies of the new world, and believed that in time a powerful and strong nation would arise from the wilderness they had seen so many times. Believing that the treasure would benefit the cause of the new world, Merez and his men quickly took to loading the tons and tons of treasures off the pirate ship and back to their own ship. In searching the captain's quarters, he discovered a map of a mountainous area, just like the pirate had described. With the map and the treasure in hand, the men scuttled the pirate ship and set sail for the new world. It would be two whole years until they would arrive on the sandy beaches along the shores of the new world. In secret, the men purchased several teams of horses and oxen at a Spanish settlement in Florida, and using hand-built carts and wagons, hastily began the journey westward. Merez and his men were never seen or heard from again._

_The story of their actions following their departure from Spanish Florida was only partially uncovered in 1853 when a young tradesman named William came across an abandoned shanty hidden on a rocky hillside deep in the mountains. He was of the descent of Spanish immigrants who settled in California, and had heard the stories as a child from an elderly man from his village of a great treasure hidden somewhere in the mountains. The old man said that his great-great grandfather had been among a group of men who concealed the treasure in the mountains to protect it from the Spanish. Because the old man had no children, he left what he claimed to be the map to the treasure with the young tradesman. After seeing the evil ways of greed and the destruction it plied on people's lives, which he'd witnessed greatly during the California Gold rush, William chose to be wise about who he shared the map with. He quickly set off to find someone with a knowledge of Chemistry, as he'd been told that the map was written in an ink which could only be made visible by a specific means. _

_In 1856, in a small village in North Wales, on the shores of the Irish sea. In this village lived James Hughes, a widower and acclaimed chemist who worked as a printmaker while providing for his three daughters, Sophie, Violet, and Nellie. They lived in a small building in the town, above their father's workshop. James studied Chemistry in the hopes of becoming a professor, in hopes of fulfilling the promise he made to his poor wife on her deathbed, that he would care for their girls. Then, one day, he was confronted by William. At first James was skeptical when asked to examine the mysterious parchment, but when he was offered a large sum of money, he hesitantly agreed to examine the parchment. At the time, the only visible sign of there being any form of invisible ink on the paper was a small symbol etched into the upper right corner of the page. James ran several chemical tests on the parchment and was about to give up on it until one night, while examining it, he held a lit candle too close to the page and revealed the paper's contents. It was found to contain a roughly drawn map of a certain mountainous area as well as a mysterious set of randomly selected numbers, aligned in pairs of three, and when solved would reveal eight clues, leading to the treasure's location. Like Merez and the Young William, James believed himself to be a man of honor, and in wishing to honor his wife's dying wish, he was willing to risk everything for his own three treasures. Led by William, James and his three daughters sailed to the United States in the summer of 1856, arriving in the port of Baltimore. Using what little money he had left, James purchased train tickets for himself, his daughters, and William, which took them to St. Louis. At St. Louis, both James and William took up various jobs in order to secure money for a wagon and team to make their way westward. Finally, in the summer of 1857, the team was organized and they slowly made their way westward. Unfortunately, fate took a terrible twist when William, their guide to the region, died of diphtheria in the harsh winter of 1857. By that time, he too had seen the consequences of greed and hate in the west. At one point they'd almost been taken hostage by a group of Bandits. To protect his daughters, James placed Violet and Nellie into a boarding school in Denver while he and Sophie continued to search for the treasure. To ensure the survival of the clues to the treasure, James passed down to his daughter the secret of writing with invisible ink he had learned after experimenting with the clues on the original map. She obeyed her father's wishes and in addition to her journal entries, she copied down the map as best she could as well as the path to finding the eight clues. _

_Then it happened._

_One night in 1863, during the hot summer months, James and Sophie were camped out by a creek in a deep valley somewhere west of Denver. While Sophie slept, James kept guard, on the lookout for bears and wolves. That night he was faced with another threat much worse than wolves. In the dead of the night, Sophie was awakened by shouts and cries coming from outside the tent. She hid in her bed and did not see what was going on, except for when she peered out into the campsite through the blinds of the tent. She saw a tall man dressed in haggard clothes standing over her father with a gun. He demanded the map be given to him. In hesitation, James took the map in his hands and crumpled the fragile document in his hands, just seconds before he was shot to death. Sophie, scared and alone, returned to her hiding place until the man left. _

_Several days later, two Irish laborers working in a nearby logging camp saw the smoke from the still raging fire and came across a man's body, which they were able to identify as James. The camp had been left untouched. When searching the belongings found within the camp, the presence of a young woman was determined when dresses, nylons, and a hand mirror were discovered. However, no trace of the girl could be found. Sophie was never seen again, nor was the diary which contained the clues to finding what would be known to the folklore as Sophie's Treasure. _

Riley had shifted from his slouch in the chair to a wide-eyed gaze, his palm glued to his chin.

"Until now." Abigail exclaimed softly as she caught the attention of both men. Ben stood up and walked over to where Abigail had been working. She'd examined seventeen pages.

"The first entry is in 1858, and the final entry is in 1863." Abigail said as she slowly and gently turned back and forth between the pages after heating them up with the hair dryer. Ben noticed her breathing speed up slightly as she came to the last page.

"Wait, Ben?" Riley interrupted. "If Sophie was never seen or heard from again and her father was killed, then how on earth did this story get out?"

Holding up his finger, Ben was quick to answer. "I thought of that too, Riley, but there were other ways by which this could have been formulated."

"True." Abigail added. "Remember, there were the two other Hughes children, there's also the men who discovered the camp, and perhaps the men who killed James may have told someone else of the event."

"Exactly." Ben stated. Riley blinked in amazement, at both the quick response and the teamwork on the collaboration. He was astounded, and a little frightened.

"Guys, now you're scaring me."

Ben rolled his eyes. "Remember, Riley, when it comes to the analysis of folklore, structure comes first and then data comes second." Just as Ben finished explaining the formula to Riley, Abigail cleared her throat.

"Does this look familiar, gentlemen?"

Ben recognized the pattern almost immediately, as did Riley.

"It's an Ottendorf Cipher." Ben said silently, his mouth hanging open slightly as he looked in awe at the page. "Just like on the back of the Declaration of Independence."

Riley eagerly rubbed his hands together as Ben rose from his seat. Ben excitedly looked at Abigail as he approached her, grinning when he found that smile on her face which signaled her transition into treasure hunter mode. He leaned over her shoulder to look at the pages, now showing the clearly defined handwriting of somebody with rather refined penmanship, such as a young woman from Great Britain would have.

"Look closer, Ben." Abigail stated. "It's _eight _Ottendorf Ciphers."

Ben exhaled sharply and grinned widely.

"Here we go again." Riley said with the same grin.

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 3: The Code of the Prophet


	3. The Code of the Prophet

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 3: The Code of the Prophet

Four hours after Ben finished telling Riley the story of Sophie's Treasure, Abigail was still sitting at the desk, working tirelessly to scan the images. The humid summer afternoon it had already been exposed to was taking an already noticeable effect on the diary. Fine wrinkles, like ripples in a pond, were appearing on the pages, which increased the risk of the paper fracturing. She had to move ever so slowly, as the book was indeed extremely fragile. She kept blinking wildly as the minutes seemed to go on for hours, as she was still in shock that this artifact had come into their hands. The printer could be heard humming loudly as it printed off multiple copies of each page. As Abigail laid them out in order to make booklets of the data, she could hear Ben and Riley conversing over the origin of the book before they had it. Riley was on his laptop, holding the brown envelope the book had come in.

"_M. Hughes, M. Hughes, M. Hughes,…_" Riley thought to himself as he flipped through website after website. The address that the book had supposedly come from didn't show up in the yellow pages, nor did anybody under the last name Hughes. "Nothing on anybody named Hughes." Riley said, setting the envelope aside. "I'm not even sure if that address even exists."

"It has to exist, Riley." Ben stated, continuing through his search for information on whether or not the diary had been viewed by anyone else. "Or else it wouldn't have gotten through the mail. After all, it was mailed First Class." Ben took the envelope from Riley and could see the large sticker labeled "First Class Mail".

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Riley said, standing up from his chair. "You thinking what I'm thinking, Ben?"

Ben looked at Riley, whose face was lit up with that adventurous grin of his. "I'm not sure about this."

Riley's smile faded, an eyebrow curiously raised. "About what?"

"Something doesn't seem right here." Ben said, looking at the envelope in his hands. "I moved out of that building over four years ago."

"Well, maybe they didn't look you up in the new directory." Riley suggested. "For all we know, this person might not have access to anything other than a phone book from a small town library in the middle of nowhere."

Ben nodded. Riley did have a point, but he still felt uneasy about the whole thing.

"Ben?" Riley asked, trying to get his friend's attention.

Ben looked up, seeing his friend still combing through the data he could find online.

"If this is the real deal, than this means we don't have to fight off anybody for it! No guns, no kidnappings, we don't have to steal anything, 100% perfectly legal!"

"Jeez, don't get too over-excited." Ben said, calming his friend.

"Come on, Ben." Riley said excitedly. "Number three. This is the third one in less than four years. We must be on a lucky streak!"

Ben scoffed at that remark. "Lucky Streak?"

Riley paused for a moment. "Okay, that came out wrong."

"But I know what you're hinting at." Ben sighed.

"Well, than what's the matter with you?" Riley asked with a raised eyebrow. "I thought with the aspect of another treasure you'd be clear past Pittsburgh by now."

Ben nodded with a humorous grin. True, he was itching to get out there to look for it, but he just couldn't shake that feeling that something was wrong.

"I don't know, this just doesn't feel right." Ben said.

"Well, that's never stopped you before." Riley andered. "Ben, I'm not gonna quit bugging you until you tell me what's wrong."

Ben nervously drummed his hands on the desktop, and when Riley heard Ben's jaw clicking, he knew something was up.

"Here, I'll talk to you more about it later, but now let's try to find out where this book came from."

"Alrighty, let's find this out so you can scratch that itch."

Ben smiled, trying to resist the urge to laugh at his friend's remarks. Although in a ridiculous manner, Riley was making some good points. Ben couldn't help but wonder what Sophie's Treasure could contain. Jewels and minerals thought lost for nearly four centuries, almost directly at their fingertips. However, that depended on whether or not they could decipher the Ottendorf Cipher.

"_Ben!_" Abigail suddenly shouted. "You guys, come here, quick!" Ben and Riley looked over to whereas Abigail was hunched over a copy of the unsolved cipher. "I think I might know the first one."

Here, let me see." Ben said. Abigail moved aside to let him have a closer look at the first clue. On the second to the last page, the first cipher was partially filled in.

"The first one consists of 160 letters." Abigail stated. "The ones already filled in spell "Beneath the Wall"."

"Beneath Wall." Ben repeated.

"So, that's our first clue?" Riley asked in a puzzled tone. "We need to look under a wall?"

Ben took a closer look at the two sentences which the cipher would depict. "Is there any clue to a key?"

"Just this." Abigail responded, reading a riddle inscribed at the top of the page before the cipher.

_In plain air, a strike of light, __The darkness fell, the world made right,  
__Ten cast to stone, to prophet's hands,  
__Escape from darkness, for the golden lands.  
_

Ben stared at it for a moment, trying to process the word sequence in his head.

"It's in the Bible!" Riley exclaimed. "It's the story of Moses!"

Ben jumped slightly at his friend's remark. "Woah, that was fast." He remarked. "How'd you figure that out so fast?"

"I went to Catholic school growing up." Riley responded, pointing out the key aspects of the riddle. "I've got so many of those stories beaten into my head that it's almost frieghtening."

"_In plain air, a strike of light,_ referring to God carving the tablets into the rock with a bolt of lightning."

"Okay." Ben said.

"_The Darkness fell, the world made right_, of course, bringing law to the world."

"Got that." Abigail added.

"_Ten cast to stone, the prophet's hands_, refers to the Ten Commandments and Moses himself."

"Hmm." Ben hummed silently to himself as the picture came together in his head.

"_Escape from darkness, to the golden lands_. This may tell us what we're looking for. Now, Escape tell us it's from the book of Exodus, right?"

Ben nodded slowly in agreement. "Clever, quite clever."

"Now, which book is it talking of?" Abigail asked.

"Here, wait a second." Ben said, leaving Abigail's side and walking over to one of the bookcases. "Remember how I said that Merez and his men wanted to keep it hidden from the Spanish?"

"Yeah, so?" Riley responded.

"Well, If they were going to use a biblical passage as the key, they'd want to have a backup plan in case the treasure map fell into the wrong hands." Ben concluded, holding a copy of the King James' Version of the Bible in his hand. "In those days, different societies were using different versions of the Bible, so there were plenty of versions to choose from."

"So, they may have used the English version of the Bible to cover their tracks." Abigail stated. Ben nodded in agreement as he opened the book and flipped through the pages of the Book of Exodus.

"But, we still don't have a way to tell which book to use." Riley stated, adjusting his glasses.

"It's the twentieth book."

"What?" Riley asked in confusion. "How'd you get that one?"

"Because the twentieth book is the first one to list all ten commandments." He showed Riley the passage before continuing back towards Abigail. "Wait a second, Riley?"

"Yes?"

"Aren't you Jewish?"

"I'm half and half." Riley responded in a low tone. "I went to Hebrew School on the weekends as well."

"Ah, that explains it."

"Alright then." Abigail said, taking the Bible from Ben and looking at the codes. She matched up the first few to check and see if they were right.

"Okay, now remind me how this works again, please." Riley asked.

"Listen closely this time, Riley." Abigail said sternly. "There are three numbers for each letter. For example, here's the first one, 1 – 9 – 2. The first letter of the ninth world of the second verse. Riley nodded a few times, remembering how he got the cipher letters from the Silence Duegood letters through that kid at the museum. Ben fidgeted with his pen anxiously, clicking the button in and out.

"Stop it, Ben." Abigail muttered as she continued to count through the letters on the page.

Ben stopped, but after a few minutes began tapping his foot, and the sole of his loafers against the hardwood floor made a dull but loud thumping noise. Abigail looked at him, rolled her eyes, and turned back to the cipher.

"Alright, Ben, I've got the message."

"Well, read it!"

"Yeah!" Riley added.

"Alright, Alright." Abigail said as she lifted up the scanned image with her handwriting along the lines.

_Beneath the Wall of Stone which has no end,  
__Under the honorable wood, which the servants defend.  
__Always underway, an eternal endeavor,  
__The servant follows the master, leading the way to the treasure._

Abigail took a sigh and looked up at Ben. "You got any ideas?"

Ben took a step back to clear his mind. "Hmm, Beneath the wall of stone."

"That could be anything." Riley stated, combing his fingers through his hair. "It's the Rockies, that could be the description of any mountain or range of mountain."

"But it's not." Ben said, holding up his pointer finger to correct his friend. "It says a _wall_."

Riley signed and Abigail rested her head in her hand as they both watched Ben pace back and forth along the desk, mumbling to himself as he thought to himself about the clues.

Then he stopped. "What if it wasn't a wall."

"What do you mean?" Abigail asked.

"What if it just looked like a wall?"

Riley glared a Ben, one eyebrow raised. "Yeah, that _really _narrows it down, buddy."

"No, wait, here me out." Ben added, continuing with his theory. "In the days before air travel, the only way to navigate the landscape was from the ground, and at a first glance a lot of things appeared different than they really were."

"Alright, you've lost me." Riley said. "Again."

Ben rolled his eyes and walked across the room, pulling out a historical atlas on the Western United States. "I think what we're looking for a rather abnormal mountain, one that stands out in a large way from the others in the Rockies." Ben said, flipping through the pages. "And I think I might know which one we're looking for."

Riley and Abigail watched as Ben flipped through a few more pages before snapping his fingers at one and dropping it on the table, sending dust from the diary flying.

"Ben! Careful-" Abigail scolded, to be interrupted by Ben.

"There!" Ben exclaimed, showing them a picture of a large multi-colored rock face rising from the ground in a mountainous range. Abigail hunched over it to take a closer look.

"The Grand Mesa?"

"Yeah, look." Ben began explaining his thesis. "An endless wall of stone is what we're looking for, right?"

"Yeah." Riley and Abigail said together.

"Well, considering the Grand Mesa is over 500 square miles, that's a lot of Cliffside needed to confine that much of an elevated area, and because it goes in a large jagged circle, it would seem like it goes on forever to somebody new to the region."

"Like Merez and his men." Abigail concluded. "They were sailors, they may not have had too much knowledge of Geology."

"Did the term _Geology_ even exist yet back then?" Riley asked.

"That's not important right now, Riley." Ben answered.

"Okay, now what about honorable wood?" Riley asked. "How can a tree be honorable?"

"Honorable is just a Synonym." Abigail answered.

"Excellent, sweetheart!" Ben exclaimed, the two of them playfully exchanging a high-five. Riley stared at them, wide-eyed for a few moments. "Okay, this still needs some getting used to."

Abigail laughed at Riley's remark, Ben stood with his arms crossed as Abigail took on the next part of the puzzle.

"Honorable could be a synonym for elevated, and because there's a National Forest atop Grand Mesa, it of course stands out from most other mountains."

"Alright, Sherlock." Riley said. "Now what about the servant of the wood?"

Abigail looked at it puzzled, as did Ben. Riley looked at them in anticipation. "Do you know?"

Both Ben and Abigail looked back at Riley. "Do you?"

"I might." Riley said, stepping up to the desk like a baseball player stepping up to the plate. "What would be considered the servant of water?"

"Haven't a clue, Riley." Abigail stated. Riley paused for a second to take in the moment, something he hardly ever got to do with these two.

"Water."

Ben and Abigail glanced at each other in surprise for a moment. Riley may have done it. Riley may have solved his first clue on his own.

"Water provides nutrients and all that crap to plants, right?"

"Yeah." Ben responded. "Like a devoted servant."

"Exactly." Riley said with a grin. "And just for the heck of it, I think I might let you guys in on the last part of the riddle."

Abigail glared at Riley. "You're enjoying this too much."

"Damn right I am." Riley stated. "Think of the servant a.k.a. water as always being in motion, enough motion to accomplish the building of a large spectacle, so large that today, we can see it from space, like , _The Grand Canyon_, maybe?" He said with a mile-wide grin.

"The Colorado River." Ben stated.

"BINGO!" Riley barked. "How'd I do?"

"A little overzealous," Abigail said, sticking her pinky into her ear to clear up the ringing. "But very well, I must say."

Ben looked at the diary page and back to the map. "Of course." He said, taking a closer look. "Water always in motion, like in a river, and the servant following the master is an easy one. The master of nature is of course, the Sun, and the Colorado River flows from east to west, following the sun. The servant follows the master."

They did it. The first clue was on the banks of the Colorado River, just north of the Grand Mesa.

"Well, one down and seven to go." Abigail said, smiling at Ben and Riley. "Looks like we're back in business."

"Hold on a minute." Ben said, holding his finger up. He was looking at his historical atlas and just stumbled across another discovery they may have made.

"Merez and his men arrived in that area sometime in the 1620's, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Records state that the first Europeans to explore the area didn't arrive there until around the time of the American Revolution."

Abigail looked up at Ben with the same realization. "Which would make these men among the first pioneers of those mountains."

"Almost 160 years before the previously thought to be first settlers."

The three of them stood in silence for a few moments. They might have unlocked a piece of American history that nobody even knew existed. This treasure could prove it.

"Should I start packing?" Riley asked eagerly.

"Now hold on a second." Ben said, raising his hands to calm his friend. "We've still got the issue of where this diary came from."

"Well, Ben, there's no doubt that it's authentic." Abigail said, sliding the original diary into a plastic bag, and then sliding that gently into a paper envelope. "I can do a few tests on it to be sure, but I'm pretty sure it's the real deal."

"Alright then, how about this." Ben said, explaining his plan. "I'll go there first to find this "M. Hughes" and see why he or she sent us of all people this diary."

"_Hello_?" Riley said sarcastically, glancing at the several framed newspaper and magazine articles from their discoveries of the Templar's Treasure and Cibola. "I think we know perfectly well why he or she sent it to us."

"Riley!" Ben scolded. "This is serious."

"He's got a point, Riley." Abigail added. "Look at who we've gotten tangled up with in the past."

"Hey, nobody could possibly be worse than Ian or Mitch."

Thoughts came painful to Ben of those two men. Ian and four of his hired thugs had been convicted of four counts of Kidnapping, four counts of attempted murder, and finally, one count of trespassing on government property. They'd all been sent to different prisons, and Ian wouldn't be walking as a free man for another 40 years. Mitch, on the other hand, hadn't done as wrong as Ben had originally thought. His intentions were towards the good of his family's honor, just as Ben's own intentions had been. Although his methods of achieving that honor were a bit ill-conceived, Ben chose to overlook from the moment Mitch chose to end his life in that chamber of Cibola. When they found his badly crushed body after teams of construction workers and archaeologists had dammed up the water flowing into the city and let the underground cavern drain out, Ben, Abigail, and Riley decided to use part of the proceeds they got from the treasure to fulfill a promise. In several colleges throughout the south, they established scholarships in Mitch's honor for college students majoring in a broad range of History fields. They had to as least do that for a fellow treasure hunter.

"Riley, you and Abigail stay here and finish decoding the rest of the clues." Ben explained. "I'll go on to this Clarkville place and find this person. They might have more knowledge we might need."

Riley sided disappointedly, shaking his head. "Oh, alright." Riley reluctantly agreed.

Ben nodded wit a smile, playfully slapping Riley on the shoulder. "You two can join me as soon as I find out more to this Hughes person."

Riley slumped back into his chair, flipping through the scanned images of the pages of the diary. Abigail kept working on the next message while Ben got on the internet and began booking a flight to Denver.

To be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 4: Redemption


	4. Redemption

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 4: Redemption

While Abigail toiled tirelessly at decoding the cipher of Sophie's diary, Ben quickly piled a few things into a knapsack. Just a few clothes, a book or two, and his hiking boots. It had been a long time since he had been to Colorado, thinking of how majestically the mountains were silhouetted against the prairie from the view at Denver. While packing, his thoughts kept bouncing back and forth between two issues; the historical relevance of this treasure and whether or not pursuing it would be logically safe. It was strange and unfamiliar because the aspect of a hunt being dangerous had never stopped him before. He knew very well what the cause of his nervousness was, but was hesitant on telling anybody. Looking around for his lucky flashlight, he looked over the printout for his flight that he had paid for a few moments ago. His flight for Denver left from Regan International Airport at 12:15 AM, and it was a two hour drive into Washington DC, so he tried not to worry.

Although to him it didn't really feel like worrying; it was more like instinct. He stared out the large window on the opposite side of the bedroom, down into the garden. For some reason the garden had always managed to capture his attention, because he thought of how some of the founding fathers of the great nation he called his home had once walked those paths and basked in that sunlight. It was this mode of thinking which really pumped up his eagerness to look for Sophie's treasure. On top of all the things, what captivated his mind the most were his thoughts of Sophie. She was only sixteen or seventeen years old when she went missing in the woods, and he pondered over the possibility of a girl that young surviving in those woods alone. It made him angry to think that she had suffered in such a way, and couldn't help but think of whatever happened to her. Did she fall into the river somewhere? Was she the victim of a vicious animal attack? Did she escape the woods and change her name to protect the treasure? Not knowing the answer just made him even more eager to find the treasure. It reminded him of the statement he'd known from the Declaration of Independence when He and Riley were still looking for the Templar's Treasure. Opportunity to enstill jstice to those wronged is not only one's choice, but their duty and their responsibility. He had to find it, for Sophie.

Entering his closet, he continued to look for his flashlight, which if it was in there, could take him hours to find. The green carpeting was covered with dirty socks and t-shirts, with an old pair of sneakers thrown off to one side, and a roughly rolled-up sleeping bag and a metal baseball bat off to ther other. Passing the shelves containing his clothing, shoes, a few bottles of colgone and a rack of belts, he entered the second room of his closet, which was where all his gear was kept. He had knapsacks, camping supplies, diving and rock climbing equipment, and an unopened parachute. Looking over a large collection of swiss army knives and flashlights, he finally found it. Holding it in the light, he examined the plain red flashlight, which was about eight inches long and made of aluminum. He'd owned it since 1976, still surprised that it even still worked. With that in hand, he glanced over the shelves, checking to see if there was anything else he needed. While he looked, his thoughts switched to Abigail's closet, which was so large that one could get lost in it. He always teased her about how she practically needed to leave a trail of bread crumbs every time she went in there. Still trying to shake off his nervousness, he grabbed one of his compasses and returned to the bedroom, forcing himself to think of the treasure.

He also wondered about James Hughes. He'd sacrificed his life to protect the treasure, and his daughter. It must have been terrible for him to have watched his family disintegrate like that. At the same time, the basis of his conclusion about the person who sent the diary to them really had him stumped, a feeling which he did not favor one single bit. James had three daughters, and for one of their descendants to have the same last name seemed highly unlikely. For that to be possible, one of the three girls would have had to have a child out of wedlock. If she had a son, then there was a chance for the family name to be passed on. However, what would make this highly unlikely was that during that time period, having a child out of wedlock was heavily frowned upon. If one of them had managed to pull it off, it must have been one nifty challenge. A knock at the door almost made him jump right out of his shoes.

"Ben?" Ben looked up to see Riley standing in the doorway. "You about ready to go?"

"Uh, yep." He responded, clicking the buckle to his knapsack. "This is practical, because now I don't have to bother with the luggage fiasco on the plane."

"True." Riley said, entering the room. "I saw you were in "deep thought" mode. Wanna fill me in?"

"Nothing to fill you in on that you don't already know, bud." Ben responded.

"Hey, your words tell me know but your eyes tell-"

Ben gave him the sort of look that really proved to him that he wasn't worried, which by that point in time he'd excelled in faking.

"-me no too." Riley sighed. "Well, it doesn't matter. As soon as Abby finishes the cipher, we'll be on our way to join you."

Ben paused for a moment. "Abby?" He stated with a raised eyebrow. "You call her Abby?"

"Yeah, so?"

"She never lets me call her that."

"Of course not." Riley said, crossing his arms. "You're the boyfriend."

"And what are you?"

"I'm like the immature younger brother that came with the package."

"That makes sense." Ben noted. "Since when have you become affluent in girl talk?"

Riley didn't respond right away. His head dropped ever so slightly and one foot raised up over the other.

"Ah, I see." Ben responded. Ben knew Riley wasn't exactly what you'd call a "ladies' man." He'd known Riley since High School and knew he wasn't too much of a people person when they first met. Both his parents died when he was just a kid and he grew up with his grandfather, who unexpectedly passed away only a few years after his parents. He'd lived on the streets for almost three years before meeting Ben. The thing they both seemed to have in common, besides the large interest in American History, was they were both kind of outcasts. In school, Ben usually got teased and pushed around by other kids, and considered Riley to be his first real friend. When Emily and Patrick split up and Emily moved to Baltimore, Patrick took Riley in with the hopes of having a brother-figure around would help Ben deal with the divorce. They'd been like brothers ever since. He was glad that he'd hit it off with Abigail, considering she wasn't always the easiest person to get along with. However, when one learned how to get along with her, she was an incredible companion and friend, not to mention a sharp-witted treasure hunter in ways matching those of Ben.

"You did good with Abigail." Riley said, cracking a smile.

"You after her?" Ben asked in a subtle tone. Riley's eyes grew wide and he giggled slightly.

"Of course not, Ben." Riley answered. "She's more like the bossy older sister to me."

"I'd have to agree with you on that," Ben remarked with a laugh. "Just don't let her hear you use the term _older_, because then she'd have to kill you and I'd be stuck cleaning up the mess."

The two snickered at that comment. Abigail was fun to be around, Ben had to admit. He remembered the painful experience of getting kicked out. Although he learned a lesson from it, it was still painful to recollect.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Riley said, refocusing his attention on the folder under his arm. "Abby made you a copy of the scans and jotted down the address of this Hughes person."

"Good, good." Ben said, taking the folder and looking through the contents. "Did you gas up my car for me?"

"Yes, although it was kind of hard to find a gas station." Riley said with an irritated look. "The closest one was almost halfway to Germantown."

"Which one did you go to?"

"Graysons, by the interstate."

"That's why, you didn't turn the right way."

"Huh?"

"I said turn left at the end of the driveway." Ben said. "Billings motor shop is just a half-mile down the road, and they sell those donuts I told you about."

"Wait, you mean-" He cut himself off as he slightly stomped his feet over the missed donut. "Dammit."

"Come with me, I've got some more downstairs." Ben said, leading him out the door and down the hall.

* * *

"God Bless Chocolate." Riley said in delight as he finished his seventh donut. Ben had almost a whole cupboard full of the donuts in the pantry, which seemed to go on forever like a tunnel to the center of the earth. The old stone pillars and arches in the tunnel once held the secrets of the founders of the American Revolution, and now it had become an underground Krispy Kreme Shop.

"I thought you'd like them." Ben snickered as riley almost began to foam at the mouth at the sight of the treasure of glazed donuts.

"Are you kidding?" Rile exclaimed. "These things are great."

"Hey Riley?" Ben asked abruptly.

"Yeah?"

"I got something to show you." Ben said as he walked over to a line of jars along the white marble countertop. He reached into the fourth largest of the ceramic jar, lifted out the lid, and from amongst the dozens of packets of table salt, he pulled out a small paper bag. He reached inside to reveal a small maroon box. He walked over to the counter and slid it across the countertop, where it stopped after striking Riley's elbow. As Ben took a donut for himself, Riley took the box in his hand and curiously flipped open the cover.

"_Yubba_-" Riley suttered with a deep gasp. He looked into the box to see a gold ring with a white metallic band running alongside the outer edge. The band swept into a swirl on the top, encasing a rounded blue stone.

"Ben." Riley said slowly in a slow manner. "Am I going to be an uncle?"

"No, of course not." Ben said with a scoff. "But you could be a best man."

Riley's eyes widened with excitement. "You're gonna ask her?"

"Yes. Yes I am." Ben said proudly. "Just be quiet, she hasn't a clue of this yet."

"You know that's going to be really hard, right?" Riley said with a reised eyebrow. "Abby's like the blonde reencarnation of Sherlock Holmes."

"Yes, I know Riley." Ben muttered.

"How long have you been hiding this down here?" Riley asked.

"Six Days." Ben responded.

"When do you plan on popping the big Q?"

"Haven't a clue." Ben said nervously. "Give me a break it took me two months just to pick the style and inscription."

Riley paused for a second. "Ben, is this why you've been acting so funny about this?"

"Uh," Ben said hesitantly, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah."

"Ah, I see." Riley said, nodding his head. "It's kinda hard to switch into 'Daredevil' mode when the consequences involve her as well."

"Exactly." Ben answered in a low tone. "Ever since what happened in South Dakota, this has been on my mind."

"Alright, alright." Riley whispered. He squinted to read the inscription on the inside of the band, but stopped abruptly. "What is this, Yiddish?"

"No, it's German, Carmen San Diego."

"What does this inscription read?"

Ben walked over to his friend and took the ring, pointing out the start of an engraving which circled the full length of the outside of the ring, embossed into the white metallic frame.

"_Überhaupt thine, überhaupt Grube, überhaupt unsere._"

Riley paused for a moment in confusion. "Translation?"

"It's in German, They're the words of Beethoven." Ben responded. "They mean _Ever thine, Ever mine, ever ours_."

Riley nodded in impressment. "Nice."

"It's her favorite quote." Ben said. "I had to talk over the phone with a jeweler from Munich to get the translation correct."

Ben placed the ring into the box again, and then gave it to Riley. "I want you to hold onto this for me."

Riley seemed taken back by the sudden request. "Why?"

"I think you know very well why." Ben stated. Riley's memory went back to the chamber they just narrowly escaped from after finding Cibola. He remembered feeling his heart leap into his throat when he saw Ben try to stay behind to hold the door open. He'd seen Ben pull some crazy stunts, but never like that. Ben had been willing to die for them, for her. It was a characteristic of Ben Gates that Riley both admired and feared in his friend, because he knew not only could he accomplish great things by the means of it, but he could also end up getting himself killed. Despite this, Riley didn't hesitate one moment to accept, because he knew arguing against it would doo no good.

"When we find the treasure, You can give it back to me." Ben said, going to the refridgerator and pulling two cans of soda out.

"Does that mean I get to be there?"

"Of course."

"You're not gonna propose in a weird place like your Dad did, are you?"

"That wasn't a weird place, Riley."

"Starbucks?" Riley asked with a raised eyebrow. Ben paused for a few moments, staring at his friend with a humorous glare.

"Alright, alright." Ben sighed. "I'll give you that one."

Riley chuckled as he slipped the ring box into his pocket. Ben stored the cans of pop in his bag, zipped it up, and headed on his way outside. As Ben and Riley climbed the stairs, Riley noticed Ben glancing around at all the artifacts displayed in the halls, the large open spaces, and covering the walls. Riley knew Ben wasn't nervous; he was just taking things into account. When he got up to the front door, he found Abigail waiting for him. Ben paused for a moment and looked at her. Although it hadn't shown before, now he was beginning to see she was sharing his feeling of unease.

"Are you really sure about this?" Abigail asked. "I'm still thinking we should go with you."

Ben paused for a moment. "It's safer for the treasure if we do things this way."

"It might not be safer for you, though."

"Yeah." Ben agreed. "But that's never stopped me before, you know."

Abigail had to admit, he had a point there. She had no doubt in her mind that he was capable of fending for himself, but that didn't cure her of that uneasy feeling which to her was the equivalent of passing a gallstone. Ben sighed and cracked a smile, slowly approaching her as Riley watched from the doorway leading from the kitchen. He gently took her in his arms, which she gradually did in return, and the two embraced each other for a few moments. She rested her head on his shoulder, gently looking up in his direction.

"Just promise me you'll look after yourself." Abigail asked silently, holding him tightly. Ben glanced over at Riley with a solemn look, then back to Abigail.

"Scout's Honor." He said, holding up two fingers.

"And promise me you won't try to pull off anything too crazy?" Abigail pleaded. Ben stared at her for a moment with a raised eyebrow.

"_For Christ's sake, look who I'm talking to!_" Abigail said. "Alright, just try not to anything _moderately_ crazy-_again, look who I'm talking to!_" She cussed, turning away from Ben for a moment to clear her mind. She faced a nearby window, looking out at the evening sky.

Ben cracked a smile and walked over to where she was standing, pulling her back into that same embrace until he was looking at her directly in the eyes..

"I promise I will be careful." Ben said. He gently leaned over and pressed his lips to hers, and they kissed for a few moments. Abigail removed her arms from around his chest and wrapped them around his neck as she kissed him, which is where they paused for several moments. Riley glanced down at his watch after a few moments before clearing his throat. They both glanced over at him with dual glares that made him jump back two feet from where he stood.

"Well, I'd better get going." Ben said as he slowly and gently pulled away from Abigail until she had his hand grasped in hers. She gently let his hand slip from hers and she watched him step out the door, letting it close behind him. Riley stepped up to where Abigail stood and together they watched Ben hop into his jeep and take off down the driveway. The sun was just setting as he disappeared from view. Riley gently put his hand on her shoulder.

"He'll be fine, Abby." Riley told her. "He's a big boy."

"I know." Abigail said. "Now if only I could get him to quit drinking out of the milk carton."

Riley snickered at her comment. "You've caught him doing that?"

"No." Abigail said. "I've been finding Oreo crumbs inside the carton, and I don't eat Oreo cookies."

"That's got to be gross." Riley said, slowly stepping back from his friend. Listening to his cautious footsteps, Abigail's eye's narrowed as she soon realized the culprit responsible for the crumbs was right behind her.

"RILEY!" Abigail snapped loudly. She turned around and saw he was gone, but could hear his footsteps going down a nearby hallway.

"Yeah, you'd better run, Riley Poole!" She said with a dull smirk as she gave chase to him.

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 5: The Sands of Time


	5. The Sands of Time

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 5: The Sands of Time

The landing was rough when United Airlines Flight 154 landed in Denver, as a bad rainstorm had set in during the night. Ben had slept through most of the flight, too tired to go over the documents Abigail had copied for him. It was just over four hours from Washington DC to Colorado, but he'd already mapped out his route to the small town of Clarkville and found a place to rent a car. When he felt the plane touch the ground, he tried his hardest to wake up as he fumbled to unbuckle his seat belt. As he rose from his seat, he couldn't help but notice a few people in the surrounding seats had their eyes on him. As he left the plane with the other passengers, he couldn't help but notice a man about the same age as his father was carrying a copy of Riley's first book. He heard the man say something to him, but couldn't understand what the man was saying. He was just too preoccupied.

He walked slowly through the terminal gate and into the shopping plaza, which was unexpectedly busy considering it was four o'clock in the morning. After he changed the time on his Rolex two hours back to make up for the change in time zones, he found himself anxiously searching for a Starbucks or anywhere to get a cup of coffee. He reminded himself of one of the serious cons of travel: jetlag. It reminded him of a trip to Russia he'd taken several years ago When he finally found one, there was a line of about two dozen people waiting in front of the counter. He simply sighed and stepped into line. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his cell phone, flipping it open and turning it on. He was thinking Abigail should have had those codes finished by that point. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something on the magazine rack on the front of the Starbucks stand. He saw an issue of _People _magazine, newer than the issue he'd just read back home a few days earlier. His own picture was along the side of the cover, above the words; _Gates Family Vindicated of Lincoln Assassination_. Ben had seen several of those articles over the past few months, but this had been the one he'd been waiting for. He quickly plucked it from the magazine rack and flipped through the pages to find the article.

_The Truth Revealed;_

_Gates Family proves innocence of ancestor with discovery of Lost Treasure._

_KEYSTONE, SD – One year following the discovery of the lost city of Cibola, renowned historian and treasure hunter Benjamin Gates and his family can once again find honor in the family name. Gates, 45, hit the headlines after he, his father Patrick Gates of Philadelphia, Historical Document Preservation Specialist Dr. Abigail Chase, and Historical Author and fellow Treasure Hunter Riley Poole, the same team responsible for the discovery of the legendary Templar's Treasure beneath the streets of Philadelphia in 2006, discovered Cibola in an underground cavern near Mount Rushmore. Shortly following the discovery of the Templar's Treasure, Historian Mitch Wilkinson of Canton, Georgia came forward with one of the missing pages of the diary of John Wilkes Booth, which listed all the conspirators to the Lincoln Assassination in April of 1865. Among the names on the list was Thomas Gates, Benjamin Gates' great-great-grandfather. Gates, along with the assistance of his father, Dr. Chase, Mr. Poole, and his mother, Dr. Emily Appleton, Professor of Native American Linguistics at the University of Maryland campus in Baltimore, were thrust into the hunt for the treasure which would prove Thomas Gates' innocence. _

_After the finding of the treasure in South Dakota, it was revealed that Thomas Gates had no part in the Lincoln Assignation. According to historical records and family accounts, Thomas Gates was approached in a Tavern near the Ford's Theater in Washington DC in the evening hours of April 14, 1865, by a group of men asking for his assistance in decoding a message written in which would later be known as the Booth Diary. Unknown to Gates and his twelve-year-old son Charles, the two men were actually John Wilkes Booth and Michael O'Laughlen, the masterminds to the Lincoln Assassination. Gates continued to decode the message after Booth departed the room, and when gunshots were heard coming from the Ford's Theater, Thomas realized the intentions of the two men. According to accounts taken from the late Charles Gates, Thomas believed the two men may have been searching for the City of Gold in order to aid the Confederate Cause, even though the Civil War had ended with the Union's victory. Tragically, Thomas Gates was shot to death in the Tavern before fleeing the scene. Before he passed, Thomas Gates reportedly left the clue those men were after to his son. After Benjamin Gates and the others discovered Cibola, Wilkinson stated clearly that he had fabricated the theory of Thomas Gates being the mastermind of the Lincoln Assassination in order to draw Gates into the treasure hunt. Although Wilkinson was killed during the team's escape from the unstable cavern, he was later credited for the discovery of the City of Gold along with both Gates men, Ms. Appleton, Dr. Chase, and Mr. Poole. Following the Discovery, Gates, Chase and Poole participated in the establishment of several scholarships for History Majors attending schools in the American South in Wilkinson's Honor. _

_The trail to find the Treasure of the City of Lost Gold took Gates, Chase, and Poole on a hunt for clues leading them to several international markings. The hidden message on the back of the missing Booth Diary page was revealed By Dr. Chase, using spectral imaging. Leading to Edouard Laboulaye, master architect to the Statue of Liberty, Gates and Poole examined one of the replicated Statues of Liberty, located in the Ile Des Cygnes in Paris. They discovered a small scripture inscribed on the cast bronze flame mounted on the torch, revealing the location of the next clue, which the finding of created much legal trouble for the team of treasure hunters. Gates, Chase, and Poole visited the Buckingham Palace in London, where in the private quarters of the Queen herself, they examined one of a pair of twin desks known as "The Resolute Twins", both of which were carved from timbers of the famed "HMS Resolute". While Poole distracted the guards, Gates and Chase entered the room and with the use of a hidden mechanism now known to have been built into both desks, an ancient wooden plank dating back as far as the 15__th__ Century was discovered in a hidden compartment. At the same time, Wilkinson was on the same trail to find the Treasure. After their return to the United States, Gates, Chase and Poole discovered the plank found in the Queens desk was only half of a full plank, which was inscribed with Native American Markings with some of the final clues leading to the City of Gold. _

_Following the discovery of the City of Gold, Gates was charged with a number of federal offenses. Although Wilkinson and two of his cousins were later found to be partially responsible, the entire group of treasure seekers was found to have committed some legally questionable acts in both the United States and England. Gates led Wilkinson and his cousins on a High speed car chase through Downtown London after Wilkinson gave chase to him in order to obtain the plank found in the Queen's desk. Although there were no reported injuries, there were several damages caused to several locations in London, all of which Gates offered compensation for in order to repair the damage he and Wilkinson had caused. Upon his return to the United States, Gates and Chase attended the Easter egg hunt at the White House, during which they infiltrated security and entered the oval office in order to examine the remaining resolute desk. When the plank was found to have already been taken, Gates then sought assistance from President Richardson, with whom he met during his Birthday Celebration at the Mount Vernon estate. While Gates and President Richardson were exploring some of the hidden tunnels beneath the estate, part of one of the stone doors collapsed, trapping the two men in the cavern. Fortunately, Gates was able to lead the President to Safety, for which President Richardson agreed to offer him assistance. Gates was later accused of abducting the President, a charge which was dropped when the President confirmed the incident had been accidental. During the search for the Templar's Treasure, Gates was convicted of theft after stealing the Declaration of Independence from The National Archives Building in Washington DC, a charge which was also dropped after Gates discovered the treasure. _

_Wilkinson, meanwhile, had committed some more severe offenses in his search for the treasure. It was reported that Wilkinson broke into Patrick Gates' Philadelphia home in order to illegally obtain data from the senior Gates' cell phone in order to tack his son's whereabouts. After obtaining the plank recovered from the Queen's desk, Wilkinson kidnapped Dr. Appleton and brought her to Mount Rushmore to have her help them find the City of Gold. Upon discovering what Wilkinson had done, Gates turned himself in to FBI agents at Mount Rushmore in order to assure his mother's safety. He was able to lead the team of FBI agents, under the lead of Agent Peter Sadusky, right to his mother's location, upon which Wilkinson was taken into custody. After reaching an agreement with Sadusky and his following agents, Gates and Wilkinson were released under careful supervision in order to continue their search. _

_While Gates didn't condone any of the actions he took, he claimed he acted within best interests of the safety of the city of Cibola, which since it's discovery has proven to be a massive addition to pre-colonial American history. Several Native American tribes believed to be the descendants of the builders of the City of Gold presented both the Gates and Wilkinson Families with golden plaques from the city, honoring what they had done for the city and their people. Similar plaques were also presented to Dr. Chase and Mr. Poole._

_Gates and Dr. Chase currently reside together at the Carrol Estate near Leesburg, Virginia while Riley Poole resides in nearby Frederick, Maryland as well as New York City. Dr. Chase left her job at the National Archives in Washington and is now the head of the conservation department at the Virginia Museum of History in Leesburg. Riley Poole, having published two more books since the discovery of Cibola, has told of the founding father's efforts to protect the city of gold. It was discovered that the sister plank of the plank found in Queen Victoria's desk was found by President Coolidge in 1924. After having the plank photographed and destroyed, he commissioned the construction of Mount Rushmore to conceal the landmarks which could have lead to the city's discovery. It was also said that Queen Victoria herself played a role in the treasure's discovery, as she offered information to one of the clues to the United States following the end of the Civil War. _

_After declining any amount of money over 1% of both the Templar's Treasure and the City of Cibola, Benjamin Gates gives his advice on the true value of the treasure. _

"_The knowledge gained of our nation's history is the real treasure." Gates stated in an interview. "What was gained of history through those discoveries is worth more to me than any amount of money."_

_This interview was taken during Gates' attendance of the official incorporation of the lost city of Cibola into the Mount Rushmore National Memorial and The Black Hills National Forest. _

* * *

The issue of that magazine sat on the passenger seat of the SUV Ben rented to drive three hours to the east towards the rural Colorado community of Clarkville, where he hoped to find the lost treasure of Sophie Hughes. He smiled with pride with the fact that the Gates name had been restored of its honor. While thinking of Sophie and her family, his thoughts switched back to Abigail. From the get-go, he noticed her level of enthusiasm in this treasure was a bit higher than it had been with either of the other treasure hunts they'd gone on together. He also knew very well that the circumstances surrounding this treasure hunt hit far closer to home with her. She had told him the story of how she'd come to the United States.

Abigail was born in Germany, outside of Berlin, amidst the political unrest following the divisions of Germany following World War II. Her parents, two young students, were killed during a demonstration in West Berlin in 1969. Abigail, only three years old at the time, was sent to live with an uncle in Amsterdam for two years, until his health took a turn for the worse. Because he was her last living relative, he placed her up for adoption, primarily seeking an American family to take her in. Finally, the family of an American soldier from Pennsylvania aggred to adopt her. Her uncle was glad to hear of this, especially when he learned that the soldier was of German descent, and his wife was actually German born and spoke German affluently, which was of great benefit to Abigail in teaching her to speak English. Her memories of the events which brought her to the United states were limited, until she was told the truth. She often said that the true story of her parents and her life before coming to the United States was eventually what attributed to her interest in history. Ben remembered how she said she was able track down some of her biological father's school papers and writings. She said he was very patriotic about issues in the divided country, which he could plainly see had been passed on to his young daughter. Focusing back on his current travels, he looked out at the scenery of the Great Plains. As he drove across the prairie, he could have sworn that he could see the Appalacian Mountains in the distance, for it was so unbelieveably flat. As he turned off the interstate and looked out at the prairie, thoughts of the young pioneer girl flooded his mind. He pictured her to be young, slim with braided hair and a home-spun dress, full of dreams and ambition.

"_She was here, She was here_." Ben thought to himself as he headed down the final stretch of road headed north. He had the windows rolled down and took in the prairie air. It smelled different than the air of the New England climate he was used to, but he could tell it was one of the aspects which drew so many settlers to the area during the days of the great American frontier. He was still waiting for a call from Abigail or Riley regarding their findings of the remaining seven clues to the treasure. This treasure hunt was proving to be rather promising, especially since it didn't look like it would involve anything that would land him in prison, yet.

His gaze at the surrounding grasslands almost caused him to miss the sign. He tapped his brakes roughly to see where he was. By the roadside was a green metallic sign.

"Town of Clarkville, Est. 1888."

Ben looked from the sign to the road ahead of him. There was a BP Gas station with an auto shop nearby, and a few houses lining the highway, but there wasn't much else there. As he drove through the town, he quickly came across a sign pointing to a road which turned back to the west. _County Road" J"_.

"_This is it._" Ben thought to himself as he took a turn from the highway and headed down a roughly paved road. As he drove, he kept track of the address numbers of the numerous houses and cattle ranches he passed.

* * *

Ben counted as he drove along. Finally, he came to a small sign reading _77189_. The sign was old and rusted, not to mention bent backwards like an upside-down "L". He was there. Ben looked off the road with a raised eyebrow and uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, and saw a narrow dirt road leading towards a small cluster of trees sitting in isolation amongst the prairie grasses. He slowly turned into the dirt road and drove along the bumpy road, noticing a rather new looking "NO TRESPASSING" sign stapled to a wire-stripped telephone pole alongside the road. He also noticed there weren't any power lines going towards the small settlement, and apparently it had been that way for quite some time. Ben couldn't help but notice an old, rusty transformer lying at the base of the third pole in. He passed an old wood-framed windmill, complete with a pump which was completely rusted open, just before turning into the trees. When he came to a stop at the end of the driveway, the uneasy feeling he'd had before was now even more intense. He found himself facing a small, white wooden-framed farmhouse which looked like it was in severe disrepair. The shingles on the roof had been peeled back in many areas, probably from various windstorms which swept through the prairie, and boards looked like they were hanging on to the sides of the house by extremely thin threads. The roof above the covered porch was filled with holes from missing planks, and the screen door which once hung on the front door had somehow been wrenched off and was now laying in a twisted mass on the end of the porch. Two windows were broken and there were scraps of wood laying all around the house. As Ben got out of the truck, he looked around at the dilapidated homestead. There was the remains of an old Dutch barn, which had collapsed long ago and was now overgrown with prairie grass, along with an old stave silo. Nearby, a shed remained mostly intact and had the only sign of modern life been had seen so far, a steel padlock on the rolling doors on the front of the shed. As Ben took the first steps towards the house, he felt his foot crunching down on something in the thin grass. He looked down to see he was almost tripping over an old tin mailbox that had been left laying in the road. He picked it up carefully, hoping it wouldn't fall apart. It was completely rusted open and partially flattened, but Ben could still see the evidence he needed to prove he was in the right place. On the front cover of the mailbox, the most intact piece of the mailbox, caused his heart to leap into his throat, as he could see the name "HUGHES" still etched into the metal. Ben concluded that a descendant of Sophie or one of her sisters may have lived here. However, it was obvious they were long gone now.

Ben decided to investigate the reported source of Sophie's diary just to be sure. As he climbed the steps to the front porch, he could see the floorboards of the porch had all caved in. He carefully climbed over the uprooted floorboards, causing them to creak and wrench loudly. He carefully reached for the door, but when he found the doorknob had been completely torn out of the door, he found he just needed to push it open. When he did, he heard a few noises coming from inside the house.

"Hello?" Ben called into the doorway. "Anybody there?"

There was no answer, just an eerie silence. However, when Ben entered the first room of the farmhouse, he could tell somebody had been there recently. A Gasoline generator sat near the door, and garbage consisting of beer cans and potato chip bags were scattered around on the floor, along with piles of clothing. Ben peered down the hall towards what looked like the kitchen, hoping to find somebody.

"Anybody-"

_THWACK!_

Ben felt something hard strike him in the forehead, and everything went black.

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 6: The Sterling Stratagem


	6. The Sterling Stratagem

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 6: The Sterling Stratagem

A sudden drenching in ice-cold water on his face awoke Ben from his state of unconsciousness. As he came to, he coughed wildly, trying to catch his breath following the shock. What had happened? Did he walk into a swinging door or something? At first that seemed likely, but as he came more into focus, he saw that wasn't what had happened. In addition to the stabbing pain in his forehead, which he could feel blood trickling slowly across his face from, he became aware of something else. He couldn't move a single muscle anywhere in his body. As his vision cleared, he saw he'd been bound with a bunch of old chains. They were running across his chest and his waist, his legs were bound together, and they were all attached to what felt like a central knot of metal surrounding a pair of cold steel handcuffs he could feel clamped onto his wrists. When he looked around briefly, he saw he was laying on his side on the floor of a room somewhere in the farmhouse. The air seemed to be choked with dust, which even further aggravated his breathing. Once his vision fully cleared, he saw two men standing in front of him.

"Hey, what the hell-" Ben began cussing angrily before being cutoff by the sight of another person entering the room. He saw the figure of a man about his same height wearing some ragged old clothing and wearing and old cowboy hat, casting a shadow over his eyes. He walked across the room, crunching his boots on the shards of glass from the beer bottle Ben had apparently been struck with, kneeled down beside Ben, and patted him on the shoulder.

"It's good to see you again, Gates." The man said quietly.

"Yeah, likewise." Ben mumbled, stunned at the sight of the person hovering over him. The man stood up and turned to the two men who Ben had seen before.

"Good work, gentlemen." He said before repeating the same phrase in what sounded like Spanish. The two men, both looking Hispanic in origin. He muttered something to them in Spanish again, and they both left the room, glaring at Ben as they left. Once they were gone, the man turned to Ben once more, this time with a piercing gaze which cut through the shadows Ben found himself trapped within like a knife.

"Ian." Ben said in a low, dull voice, blinking in pain from the wound on his head and in disbelief. That uneasy feeling had now intensified to the point where it was about to make him sick.

"Ben?" Ian replied, returning the statement. Ben laid there in silence for a few moments before finding the right words to say. "Was there something you wanted to ask me?"

"So, I'm guessing prison didn't suit you very well." Ben remarked, glaring back at Ian with that same cold look.

"No, not at all." Ian responded. "I needed some of these wide open spaces, just like your little friend did. What was her name again? Sarah? Susannah-"

"Sophie." Ben stated. "Sophie Hughes."

Ian paused for a moment, nodding in impression at Ben's knowledge of the story. "From that response, I'm assuming you got it."

"The diary?" Ben said, tugging gently at the chains binding his arms while glaring at Ian sternly. "Yeah, I got it."

Ian casually looked around the room at the terrible state of the house. "Shame. Poor shame." He said, standing up and slowly beginning to circle the room. "He had such high hopes for his daughters, that James did."

Ben never took his eyes off Ian. He watched cautiously as he tried to control his breathing, which was now heavy and labored. He felt a lump in his throat form, as his nerves had all gone taut. Ben knew thts wasn't good.

"Where did you find the Diary?" Ben asked.

"In of all the places I've seen people hide things, this one takes the pie." Ian said smugly. "It was wrapped in an old pillowcase, placed inside a metal container much resembling a lunchbox, and buried in their storm cellar." It was clear now to Ben. Ian was the one who had sent him the diary.

"Did you figure it out yet, Ben?" Ian asked, walking over and hovering above Ben. "The Treasure?"

"I've heard the legends, if that's what you mean." Ben stated, trying to be cautious of what to tell the escaped convict. Ian stood in silence for a few moments, as if he was taking in the experience.

"The treasure is said to contain some of the most valuable kinds of riches known to man." Ian stated, glaring out the window facing towards the west. "Crown Jewels of some of the highest ruling powers of the Eastern World, Spanish Gold, Diamonds, Emeralds, worth a fortune, maybe even more than the Templar's."

"Which is why you want it." Ben concluded. Ian stared him with a face that seemed to be just barely masking the rage Ian must have been carrying.

"It would dignify my name. My family's honor." Ian said. "Just as the Templar's Treasure and Cibola did for yours." Ian continued to stare down at Ben, who in turn was glaring right back.

"It will give me my life back."

"Ian," Ben began explaining to the hostile convict. "This treasure isn't just for one person anymore. This is for the people, just like the others."

"Oh, Drop the patriot act, Gates!" Ian spat, interrupting Ben. "We're in a new age now, a time whereas it is every man for himself."

After pausing for a moment, Ben once again locked his glare onto Ian's face, to gain his full attention. "Ian, if people have been looking for this for centuries and never found it, what makes you think you can find it?"

"We'll see about that." Ian stated sternly with a rather sinister looking grin. "I've had my eyes on that treasure longer than you knew it was even real."

"How do you expect to find it?"

"I'm not going to find it." Ian stated, cracking a smile. "You are."

Ben glared directly at Ian for a few more moments. He swallowed to remove a lump of nervousness which had formed inside his throat, but didn't let Ian see it. "Unless you're planning on implanting a chip in my head, that's not going to happen."

Ian smiled slyly. "I thought you might say that." Ian turned away from Ben and reached for a manila envelope on the desk nearby. As he opened it, Ben watched as Ian pulled out a bunch of large still color photos.

"I can see you and Dr. Chase have reconciled your differences." Ian stated, showing Ben a picture of a woman with blond hair standing on the balcony of a familiar looking stone building. "It was such a shame when I heard the two of you had split up."

Ben's throat tensed up even more as Ben showed him multiple pictures of Abigail in their home, pictures that had been taken just within the past few hours. One showed her walking past a hallway window, another showed her standing in the front doors, still wearing the clothes she wore when he last saw her. Trying not to express any sign of emotion in his face, Ben clenched his teeth together, not liking where this was going.

"Also, I've heard Riley Poole is basking in his own success as well." Ian said, showing a picture of Riley pulling into the driveway in his Ferrari. "Such a shame."

Ben raised an eyebrow cautiously. "Shame?"

"Of what can happen" He responded. Ben's breathing grew harder, he clenched his fists behind his back.

"You lay a hand on either one of them and I'll-" He began to state, just before the small clangs of the chains which bound him reminded him of his position.

"Be aware of who holds the cards, my friend." Ian informed Ben with a sinister glare. "Your cooperation means their safety. We're about to make our own history now."

Ian backed away from Ben slowly, telling him what would happen.

"I will have found the treasure, wanting to give it back to the people it rightly deserved. While you on the other hand will have never gotten the chance to make an attempt to find it." Ian said with a smirk. "It's just too bad you won't be there to defend your name to the world when it's all said and done."

Ben had frozen in mind and thought. He'd had the right instinct all along. This had been a trap. "How did you know I'd be coming here?"

"I know you, Ben." Ian responded. "You're top priority would be to fulfill the wishes of the descendants of this poor little Scottish family."

"They were Welsh, you idiot-" Ben remarked, only to have Ian's foot driven directly into his stomach, knocking the air out of him.

"We've all got debts to pay, Ben." Ian said coolly, turning towards the door. "I've paid more than my share, and now you need to pay yours."

Ben laid there in silence, his eyes clutched shut from the pain in his abdomen, his eyes watering and stinging.

"Now, where's the diary?" Ian asked.

Ben said nothing, trying to regain control of his breathing.

"Ben." Ian asked again. "Where is that diary?"

Ian suddenly fell to his knees beside Ben, taking his prisoner by the collar and slamming him against the wall. Ben's head smashed into the wall so hard that it left a grapefruit-sized indent in the wall. Before he could even react fully to the second extremely painful blow to the head he had received, he felt the mouth of a gun being pressed hard into his throat, to the point that it was almost choking him.

"Answer me!" Ian barked loudly. Ben cringed slightly at the sound of Ian's loud voice coming to his ears, but after a moment or two, looked back up at Ian. He gently rocked his head backwards two or three times, motioning for Ian to come closer. As Ian did, Ben mustered up every negative memory of Ian he could think of, and when the time was right, he spat hard into Ian's face, hitting him directly between the eyes. Ian recoiled, wiping the flem from his face. He looked back to Ben, seeing his prisoner now glaring at him angrily.

"_Go to Hell."_ Ben whispered coldly. Barely a split second after he finished talking, Ian struck him hard in the mouth, causing Ben's head to jerk painfully to the left. Ben coughed up a little blood, spitting out a crowned tooth and feeling a small trickle of blood running down his chin. He looked back up at Ian, who was now slowly rising to his feet.

"I'm going to ask you one more time." Ian growled under his breath, cocking his gun, and pointing it directly at Ben's face. He held the gun with both hands, standing directly in line as to aim the gun directly in between Ben's eyes. "Where is the goddamn diary?"

Ben said nothing; he just laid there, glaring directly back at Ian.

"Well?" Ben said in a questionative tone.

"What?" Ian asked.

"You gonna shoot me or what?" Ben said loudly. "If I'm dead, than the diary stays out of your reach, the treasure never gets found, and you're up a creek without a paddle."

Ian lowered his gun, trembling slightly in anger and frustration. "Last Full Measure of Devotion, eh?"

'_You bet your God-forsaken ass.' _Ben said, hearing his favorite quote from President Lincoln. Ian looked for one possible spot of weakness in Ben's facial expression, but only saw that brick-wall facial expression stemmed from Ben's bull-headed behavior. However, after a few moments, he thought back to a weakness of Ben's he'd already pointed out.

"_Chase."_

As Ian stormed out of the room, Ben watched as he saw the old, ratty door slam shut behind him. With Ian out of sight and his head throbbing, Ben rested his head against the floor, breathing heavily. Slowly trying to rotate his hand, he felt a sharp pain in his right hand. Through this, he was also able to feel his back pocket and soon realized that his wallet and the keys to the SUV he had rented were gone. Blinking back tears from the pain, Ben soon came to realize the seriousness of the situation. His nerves had his stomach all tied and twisted up in knots as he thought of Abigail and Riley, as they were about to be dragged into this as well. As he slowly and painfully slipped out of consciousness, he did something he hadn't done in quite some time. He prayed; not for himself, but for Abigail and Riley, for his parents, and for the sake of this treasure, which he knew very well was worth more to the United States than it would ever be to Ian. Most importantly, he prayed for Sophie's memory, vowing to do whatever it took to let her memory be at peace.

'_We are in Your Hands, Lord."_

* * *

Abigail had slept late into the following morning, never leaving Ben's desk. She'd fallen asleep draped over the pages. She'd finished solving all the other ciphers from the diary, now she was just waiting for Ben to call. When she woke up, she fumbled around with the switch for the light casing, trying to shut off the tabletop light which had tinted her vision slightly blue from staring at it all night. She reached for her cell phone and looked at what time it was. 8:46 PM.

"_What_?" Abigail thought as she looked out her window and saw the sun slowly slipping behind the distant hills. She'd just slept ten straight hours.

"Riley!" Abigail called, hoping he was still around. "Are you still here?"

"_Yeah_." A voice echoed from somewhere downstairs.

"Did he call you?" She asked eagerly, checking her phone for missed calls.

"_Nope_." Riley responded.

"He didn't call me either."

After a few moments of silence, Abigail saw the hallway light switch on and Riley's shadowy figure appeared in the doorway. "Jeez, Abs. Are you alright?" Riley scrambled across the room to help her up.

"I'm fine." She told him, straightening her hair with her fingers. "I could really use some coffee right about now."

Abby?"

"Yeah?"

"You've got two paper clips and a sticky note in your hair."

Almost immediately, Abigail shot him the kind of look which made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Alright." Riley said, taking the hint with a smirk. "I'll make you some."

She smiled and was about to follow him when her phone rang. She quickly darted back to the desk and snatched her phone.

"It's Ben!" She told Riley once she checked the caller ID. "Ben?" She said as she answered the call. There was silence at first, then some heavy breathing.

"_Abigail_." Ben's voice said in a hoarse tone. Abigail raised her eyebrow at his response. "Sweetheart?"

"_Abigail! Don't-_" Ben stammered before something cut him off.

"Ben? Are you alright?" Abigail asked. She heard nothing. That feeling which had been churning in the pit of her stomach was now resurging. "Ben!" She asked again, irritation in her voice.

"_Dr. Chase_." Another voice came to her over the phone. "_It's good to hear from you again_."

Abigail froze right where she stood, her face turning sheet white. Riley had not even left the room yet when it happened.

"Abby?" Riley asked, startled by her sudden appearance. "What's wrong."

Abigail slowly put her hand to the receiver, shaking slightly. "It's Ian."

Riley stood in silence for a few moments, startled and confused. "Which Ian? Our Ian?"

Abigail nodded.

"But, he's supposed to be in-"

"Apparently he's not anymore." Abigail responded, returning to the call.

"_Dr. Chase?_"

"Yes?" Abigail said hesitantly.

"_Do you obtain the diary of the young Welsh girl?_"

Abigail looked at the wrapped up diary still sitting on the desk. "That depends."

There was a pause of silence. _"Are you near a computer right now?_"

"Yes."

"_Get online and look up your Boyfriend_."

Taking a deep breath, Abigail reluctantly turned the computer out of sleep mode and opened an internet browser. She typed Ben's full name into the search engine and pressed search. When the search was completed, her heart froze, face going completely white. Riley walked up behind her carefully as she slowly lifted her hand to her mouth. She opened the first news article on the list, which was barely a few hours old.

"Abigail, what is that?" Riley asked. Abigail didn't respond.

_TREASURE HUNTER KILLED IN AUTO ACCIDENT_

_Sterling, CO – A terrible accident has claimed the life of one of the nation's greatest modern day explorers on the Highway 6 causeway near Sterling early Friday afternoon. Benjamin Gates, the famed explorer responsible for the discoveries of two great historical finds to the United States was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident early Saturday morning, which ended on the bed of the South Platte River. Gates, 45, of Leesburg, Virginia was driving eastbound across the bridge when another vehicle swerved to avoid hitting a traffic cone left in the street, causing Gates' SUV to crash through the barrier and plummet into the river, some eighty-five feet below, where it landed upside-down. The truck burst into flames upon impact with the riverbed. Alcohol was not a factor in this incident. _

"What in the hell did you do to him." Abigail demanded sternly.

"_Well, that's not the proper manner to speak to another, is it?"_

"It is when that person is a sleaze like you."

"_Hmm, you've got your wits about you_." Ian said with a devilish laugh. "_He's been confirmed as dead by the authorities, so they won't be setting off on leads searching for him anytime soon._"

Riley leaned in to hear what was going on. He recognized Ian's voice almost instantly, and gasped when he saw the crushed and twisted remains of the SUV Ben had rented.

"_Now don't you worry._" Ian snickered to Abigail over the phone. "_You'll both be seeing him very soon_."

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 7: Thurgood Lane


	7. Thurgood Lane

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 7: Thurgood Lane

Abigail felt her throat tighten as she tried desperately to calm her nerves. Barely a few moments had passed since the call with Ian ended, and neither she nor Riley had no way of telling where he was. She did, however, have a hunch to where they were going. Heart racing, she immediately stood from her chair, shutting off the lights in her desk. She knew this was bad, and would most likely get worse if they didn't act, and fast. As she crossed the room, she noticed Riley frosen in a still stand in front of the large window, staring out into the yard, now shrouded in the darkness of the night.

"Abby?" Riley asked from the window.

"Yeah?"

"We need to get out of here." He said. "Now."

"Why?" Abigail asked nervously.

"They're coming."

"Who's coming?" Abigail asked, hurrying to the window. She looked out into the darkness and could barely see the faint glow of headlights coming from along a certain point on the driveway.

"Oh God." Abigail gasped.

"We need to go, _now!_" Riley hissed.

Abby hurried to the closet in the corner and grabbed one of Ben's old satchels, trying hard not to make a sound. She carefully returned to the desk and placed the diary and the papers with the decoded messages into the bag. When she closed the bag and reached for her coat, the power suddenly went out, plunging them into total darkness. The entire mansion went quiet.

"Riley?" Abigail whispered. She listened carefully, and heard a metallic clang come from somewhere downstairs, followed by glass breaking. Somebody was in the house.

Within moments, Abigail felt Riley's grip on her arm. As the two of them stood closely together, Abigail opened the drawer to Ben's desk and pulled out an emergency flashlight. Riley had his coat under his arm and his cell phone in his pocket. For a brief moment, Riley felt his coat pocket, making sure the hidden object inside was still where it was supposed to be. Abogail slowly reached for her bag, which she had packed for the trip earlier that day, and swung it over her shoulder.

"Come with me." Abigail ordered silently and sternly as she pulled Riley across the room. Riley snatched his backpack from its resting place on the sofa where he had been lounging earlier as they walked. They could hear voices coming from the main stairwell, inching closer and closer. Abigail swung the shoulder strap for the satchel over her head and let the bag hang from her arm as she and Riley reached the opposing wall. Riley listened closely for the voices of who sounded like two men with very thick Brooklyn accents. As Abigail listened, she could feel her chest tighten as she felt herself moving into panic mode.

"This is it." Riley whispered in a high pitched tone. "We're gonna die."

"No we're not." Abigail said, shaking off her nerves. Riley looked towards her to respond to that comment, but was shocked to see that Abigail had pulled the wall open, revealing a hidden door.

"Go!" Abigail hissed. Riley scrambled through the door and Abigail pulled it closed behind her. She peered through the crack as the door closed, and could see the lights from two flashlights shining on the red carpeting in the hallway outside the library. She pulled the door closed and gently shoved the locking pin into place. They froze in silence when they heard somebody cuss,

"_Where the hell are they?_"

"_I dunno, but the boss said they should be here."_

"_They must be, there's two cars out front."_

Riley began to breathe heavily, thinking foolishly of the safety of his precious ferrari, as Abigail turned the light away from the secret door and towards the passage. They silently hurried down the corridor, extending the full width of the second floor before coming to a spiral staircase. Abigail kept feeling for her bag and Ben's satchel, making sure she had everything she needed to get out of there. Riley coughed slightly, his breathing constricted within the dark corridor. The air was dry and dusty, as nobody had been in there in a long time. As they began their descent down the staircase, Riley looked around puzzledly at his surroundings.

"Abby, I know this might not be the right time to be asking this, but where in the hell are we?"

"Thurgood Lane." Abigail responded. "Ben showed me the way. It was an emergency escape passage from during the revolutionary war." The two of them quietly descended down into the darkness until they were twelve feet underground. "It leads to an underground tunnel which surfaces out in the woods, near the river."

"How come he never told me about this way?"

"Don't you already have enough ways of sneaking in to the house?"

"True." Riley said, nodding. "Now, how are we going to help Ben?"

"We need to get to Colorado and find him." Abigail said, stopping for a brief second to catch her breath and wipe the sweat from her forehead. "I've got the key to my savings account, once we find an ATM, I can get some money out and that way Ian can't track us by means of that."

"Good idea." Riley stated, thinking about how that almost caused their downfall when they stole the Declaration of Independence. As he recollected about their past pitfalls, He and Abigail reached the start of the underground tunnel. Suddenly, they heard a large crashing noise coming from back up the stairs, from the Library, causing them both to jump in surprise, followed by a loud, banging noise, as if somebody was trying to chop through the wall with an axe.

"Did they break through the door?"

"I'd rather not wait and find out." Abigail whispered as they both picked up the pace to reach the end of the tunnel. As they sped through the tunnel as fast as they possibly could, another aspect of the situation dawned on Riley, and it scared the living daylights out of him.

"Abby?"

"Yeah?"

"I think we've got another problem."

"I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to hold it in for a while, we've got bigger fish to fry than your small bladder."

"Not that, Patrick and Emily!"

Then it dawned on Abigail as well. If Ian had his knuckle headed thugs after her and Riley, than he probably had them after Ben's parents as well. Now it was more urgent than ever that they get out of there, and fast. Within seconds, Abigail found herself breaking into a sprint, reaching behind her to grab Riley's arm to be sure as to not lose him down there. It seemed as if they'd walked for a mile when they finally came to a narrow staircase leading upwards.

"Riley, I need your help to open this." Abigail said hoarsely as she shined her flashlight onto a large wooden door hanging over the stairwell that had been cut into the ground. Abigail unhooked the old iron latch holding the door closed and they both gently pushed it open. As it swung outwards and off to the side, Riley saw they were in the dense birch forest to the north of the estate. Carefully and quietly, the two of them rushed to get the door closed, just in case someone did find access to the tunnel. As the finished closing the door, Riley could hear the faint but ominous sound of flowing water. "What's that noise?"

"The Potomac River, of course." Abigail Responded, breathing heavily. "Come on, this way."

Riley hurried behind Abigail as they rushed towards the river's edge. They quickly plowed through bushes and past the large bunches of trees before reaching the water's edge.

"_Hey, they're over there!_" A voice called from out of the darkness. Both Abigail and Riley looked back to see a barrage of small lights coming through the woods.

"Oh, God, Run!" Riley snapped as he pushed Abigail forward. "What are we going to do now?"

"We can use Betsy." Abigail said, leading Riley to a dock near the water's edge. Tied to the dock was a small, light blue speedboat with a gas motor. "I give you the _Betsy Ross_."

The two of them scrambled onto the dock towards the boat, the wooden decking creaking and bumping underneath them. Abigail jumped into the boat, letting her bag fall into the protection of the hull and frantically tried to start the motor. Meanwhile, Riley quickly untied the white cords holding the boat to the dock, cursing under his breath. Just then, two gunshots rang through the air, a bullet pierced through the wood flooring of the dock barely two feet from where Riley was standing. Abigail screamed as wood splinters flew through the air. Before Riley could get into the boat, the engine kicked into full throttle and began drifting away from the dock without him. Abigail's heart pounded faster when she saw a group of dark shadows emerging from the woods.

"Riley! JUMP!"" Abigail screamed as Riley dodged another bullet which struck the dock. Riley focused his eyes on the boat and leapt into the river, where he vanished into the darkness. He went down deep in the dark water for a few seconds, the shock from the cold water knocking the wind out of him. When he surfaced, he saw one of the mooring lines from the boat hanging in the water. As bullets shot into the water around him, Riley made a reach for the line. Just as he grabbed it, he was suddenly struck with a stabbing pain as a bullet ripped through his left arm.

"RILEY!" Abigail screamed. She ducked behind the metal rim of the boat, which had floated about thirty feet from the dock. As she saw two men jump into the river after them, she quickly grabbed the end of the line Riley was holding on to and tried to pull him in. As she desperately looked for him to surface, she saw three men run onto the dock, one of whom jumped into the water after Riley. She ducked down into the boat when more shots were fired from the dock, screaming as sparks erupted from a bullet's impact with the metal rim of the boat.

"Abby, Go!" Riley suddenly shouted from the water, his voice muffled. "I've got the line, now go!"

"But Riley-" Abigail protested, but Riley kept shouting. "GO!"

He put his right hand through the loop at the end of the rope and wound it around his wrist three times after he sank below the water. Quickly, Abigail put the engine back into full throttle and took off into the night, dragging Riley behind her. One of the men from the shore got a hold of Riley's left foot, but in his anger over what they'd done to Ben, Riley furiously kicked the man in the jaw, sending him groping backwards into the murky water just before Riley felt the rope tugging at his arm. Meanwhile, Abigail was still trying to hide from the barrage of bullets which had been fired at the boat. She looked ahead of her and about a half-mile downstream was the Highway 15 bridge, with it's large cement pillars. "Hold on, Riley!" She shouted into the wind behind her as she saw Riley's head sticking out of the water, dipping underwater occasionally. As they sped on down the river, Abogail frequently switched her attention between the bridge in the distance, and the mooring cable which was pointed down into the water. After a few minutes, Abigail got the boat about 30 feet from the centermost pillar, beneath the shadows of the overhanging highway, before stooping the engine. Her heart pounding, her eyes darted around, looking for any sign of anyone who could help, or be a threat. She then frantically took the end of the line in her hand and began to pull Riley in. She looked into the murky waters nervously, her breathing becoming harder when she saw that the line Riley was holding onto was pointing directly straight down in the water. After a few moments of pulling, she shined her flashlight into the water and could see Riley's figure becoming clearer, along with a dark red cloud hovering around his arm. "Riley!" She exclaimed hoarsely as his still figure broke the surface. She took her friend by his right hand and frantically began to pull him into the boat. She tried to help him by rolling him into the boat sideways along the edge, remembering to steady herself so the boat didn't overturn. Right from the start, she could feel him trembling and noticed how pale he had become. He was shivering and grinding his teeth, hardly able to move his left arm. When Abigail finally got him into the boat, she quickly sprang into action. She desperately tried to think back upon any knowledge of first aid that she had. Only coming up with a first aid lesson she'd received in the girl scouts as a child, she quickly sought to help Riley breath easier. She quickly and gently removed his backpack, pushing it off to the side. She then removed his jacket, letting the sopping wet piece of clothing fall into a pile in the opposite corner. Once she had his jacket off, she shined the flashlight and got the first glimpse of the wound, a gruesome sight which caused her to gag briefly. The bullet had apparently bounced off the bone in Riley's arm, creating two gaping holes in Riley's forearm and almost completely blowing away the sleeve to his shirt. He was bleeding very badly, a pool of blood mixed with water forming underneath Riley's arm. She quickly took off her jacket and ripped the long sleeves off her shirt, tying them tightly around the massively bleeding wound. Dripping wet, his eyes were snapped tightly shut and his face was getting very pale. Abigail began to panic for a few moments, not sure of what to do, and had to force herself back into her right frame of mind. If she didn't find help soon, it would only be a matter of time before he slowly bled to death.

"Riley, I'm so sorry," Abigail began to apologize, working quickly to try to help him breathe easier. She unbuttoned the collar of the long-sleeved checkered shirt he was wearing, and then with a nail file she pulled from her pocket, she cut away a few inches at the collar of his t-shirt, clearing away anything from his throat which could constrict his breathing. Trembling as she looked along the shoreline of the river, frantically looking for help, Abigail prayed silently for a miracle. There was only darkness. She wanted to yell out and scream for help, but she hesitated, as she knew very well that Ian's men could be out there somewhere, waiting for her to do that.

"It wasn't your fault." Riley said, his teeth still clenched and choking over his own words. "We got away, that's-what's-important." He said as he began stammering because of the pain. His eyes stung from the water and he could barely breathe because he was shaking so much. He was beginning to go into shock. Abigail looked at Riley, and knew there was only one person who could help them. She quickly reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her cell phone.

"Abby, don't!" Riley stammered, coughing softly as he continued to try to regain control of his breathing. "Ian will know if we get the police involved."

"I'm not calling the police, I'm calling a friend." Abigail responded. "A friend of Ben's."

Abigail quickly put the phone to her ear after dialing a long number.

"_Hello?_"

"Pete?" Abigail asked frantically. "It's Dr. Chase."

"_Dr. Chase, are you aware of what time it is?_"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but I need your help."

"_Why, what's the matter?_ _Ben trapped in one of the pyramids again?"_

Abigail glanced around her, seeing if there was anyone in the vicinity who could hear her.

"Ian broke out of prison."

There was a pause of silence in Sadusky's voice. "_I know_."

Abigail's eyes widened. "You _knew_?" She stammered.

"_I'm not supposed to be discussing this with you, because it's a high risk case_."

"Well, now it's a VERY high risk case!"

"_What's going on?" _Pete asked with an irritated tone.

"_Why, what's going on?_" Sadusky asked, his tone of voice changing. "_Is this about Ben?_"

"Yes." Abigail responded.

"_Was Ian the one who killed him?_" Sadusky asked urgently. "_I did think that story of the accident on the bridge was a little fishy, considering the driving stunts he's done in the past_."

"Um, well, yes and no."

"_What do you mean yes and no?_"

"He was responsible for the accident, but Ben isn't dead!" Abigail told him. "I just spoke to him barely an hour ago!"

"_Oh, God._" Sadusky said in a shocked tone. "_So Ian has Ben._"

"Yeah. He's after this treasure we've uncovered."

"_Oh, God Dammit,_" Sadusky cursed. "_ANOTHER Treasure?_"

"But that's not important right now." Abigail said frantically as she could see Riley was beginning to slip out of consciousness. "Some of Ian's thugs broke into my house to get the diary with the clues to the treasure."

"_What! Are you alright?_"

"I'm fine, but I need help." Abigail said as she bit her lip. "Riley's been shot!"

There was a brief pause. "_I'm on my way, where are you?_"

"We're in a boat on the Potomac River, underneath the Highway 15 Bridge, just downstream from my house."

"_Alright, here's what you need to do_." Sadusky instructed. "_How bad is Riley?_"

"He's been shot in the forearm, and he's bleeding really badly."

"_Do you have something like a shirt you can use to stop the bleeding?_"

"I already tried, its not helping very much."

"_Okay, here's what you need to do. Pilot your boat along the shoreline to Leesburg, it's only about twelve miles downstream._"

"Alright, I'll try." Abigail said calmly, still trembling. She glanced around into the darkness, every nerve in her body going ballistic. She knew she had to do this, so she shook off her nervousness. "Pete?"

"_What is it, kid?_"

"If Ian's sent his men after Riley and me, then he's probably going to send them after Patrick and Emily too."

There was another pause of silence while Sadusky rummaged around for something on the other end of the line. "_Alright, I'll get a hold of the protection offices with the authorities in Philadelphia and have them get both Patrick and Emily to safety._"

"Could you possibly have them sent here?"

"_Yes, possibly._" Sadusky answered. "_Is there something else to this?_"

"I need to see them." Abigail said sternly, finally able to stop shaking. "They should know."

"_Of course_." Sadusky responded. "_Now, get your tail to Leesburg so we can help Riley."_

Abigail agreed to do so as she hung up her phone and turned it off before turning back to Riley. He'd stopped shaking, but was now getting very pale and his breathing was getting deeper. Abigail shined the light onto the wound and saw the blood was seeping through her makeshift bandage even faster.

"Oh Jesus." She cursed silently as she scrambled back to the motor.

"Abby." Riley groaned in pain as Abigail looked back towards him.

"It's going to be okay, Riley." Abigail said to calm her friend. "We're going to get you some help."

Riley gently lifted his right arm and reached for his jacket, which lay sopping wet on the bottom of the boat next to him. Somehow he'd managed to hang onto it in the water and now he gently brushed his hand over the pocket, praying to God that it was still there. His heart jumped when he felt a small square object in the pocket. Although he promised Ben, he felt he might not have a choice.

"Abby." He said hoarsely. "Come here, I've got something to give to you."

"Can it wait?"

"No, it can't." Riley said softly, feeling his energy drain right out of his arm. Abigail let the motor idle for a few moments as she crept across the boat to her friend. Straining to lift up his arm, he stretched out his blood-soaked hand. Abigail reached out her own hand, thinking he just needed comforting for a second. Instead, she was surprised to see him press a small box into her hand.

"He told me-" Riley said, stopped briefly by a sharp pain in his chest. "He told me to keep an eye on that for him, and I think I best tell you now before-"

"Riley, don't think like that." Abigail said sternly. "I need you to fight, alright?"

Riley could feel his eyelids getting really heavy. Abigail now came to realize the bullet which struck his arm must have struck an artery, as there was now a failry sized puddle of blood beneath Riley in the bottom of the boat.

"You listen to me, Riley Poole!" Abby shouted sternly as she put the motor of the boat into the highest speed it would go at safely. "Hang on, I need you to fight for me, alright?"

Riley struggled to stay awake, but it was getting harder and harder every time he took a deep breath. As Abigail felt her eyes water, she became furious over her thoughts of Ian. If both Ben and Riley died because of him, she'd kill Ian with her own bare hands.

"Riley, I can't do this without you!" She shouted sternly. "Ben needs you!"

Riley could hear the thumping in his ears growing louder.

"Sophie needs you!"

Riley's eyes rolled up into his head and his head slumped back against the side of the boat.

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 8: The Eagle's Tears


	8. The Eagle's Tears

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 8: The Eagle's Tears

"HELP!" Abigail shouted as she came into view of the boat landing near Leesburg, the city lights causing the nighttime sky to glow purple. Nearly twenty minutes had passed as Abigail had sped the small boat down the Potomac River from the bridge they'd been near. She could see men standing with flashlights and several squadcars an Ambulance waiting. As she drew in closer, she cut the motor's power and let it drift into the landing so fast that she almost struck the end of the dock head on. A few men pulled the boat against the dock while two other men scrambled into the boat to check Riley, who had now gotten far paler. For one terrible moment, she thought he was already dead.

"Dr. Chase!" A familiar voice called from the dock. Abigail looked up and saw Sadusky standing on the dock, reaching out to her. She fumbled for his hand while looking at Riley, and once he got a hold of her hand, Sadusky pulled her gently from the boat. Her eyes were red and she was out of breath when she stepped onto the dock.

"He's not breathing!" One of the paramedics announced to the crew bringing a gurney from the ambulance. "He's got a pulse, but it's very faint."

Abigail never took her eyes off of her friend as he was listed from the boat, which came to reveal the true amount of blood he'd lost. It covered the entire bottom of the boat. As Sadusky led her off the dock, she watched as Riley was pushed into the ambulance, the doors closed behind him, and the vehicle sped up the road, lights flashing and siren blaring.

"Let's get you to the hospital." Sadusky said as he guided her to one of the patrol cars. She looked back and saw some of the emergency workers pulling the boat from the water onto a trailer.

"They'll take care of that." He told her. "Now, Patrick and Emily are safe, they're on their way here right now."

Abigail nodded thankfully, breathing a small sigh of relief while still clutching Ben's old satchel and her own bag as well as dragging Riley's coat and backpack behind her. After piling their things into the back seat, she climbed into Sadusky's patrol car. After he climbed in on the driver's side, Abigail wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket, stikk trembling. She held onto Ben's satchel, making sure that it never left her sight.

"Abigail?" Sadusky asked.

"Hmm?"

"Now, what's all this about this new treasure you've stumbled across?"

Abigail hesitated. As unbelievable as it sounded, she wasn't sure if she could trust even him with it. At the same time, she didn't feel like she had too much of a choice, because his assistance in the matter could very well be the difference between finding Ben dead or alive, or even at all.

"Have you heard of the legend of Sophie's Treasure?"

Sadusky nodded. "I remember my granddad told me that story when I was a kid."

Abigail slowly reached into Ben's satchel and pulled out the small package containing Sophie's diary. "This is her diary."

Sadusky took it very carefully in his hand as he drove, examining the appearance of the book's cover.

"It's authentic. I did the tests for it already and everything."

"Where did you find it?"

"We didn't." Abigail said softly. "It came in the mail about two days ago."

"From who?" Sadusky asked, turning down the volume on the radio. "Ian Howe?"

"Probably." Abigail responded. "Ben told us that he didn't think everything was right with this situation."

"And from the looks of things, he was right." Sadusky stated. He noticed she was still trembling from the shock, thinking of how it would probably take enough sedatives to knock out a polar bear to calm her down.

Abigail leaned her head back and closed her eyes in frustration. They should have all gone together, or else waited and found somebody to help them. Now she didn't know what to do.

"What did you find in the book?" Sadusky asked.

"An Ottendorf Cipher."

"Just like on the back of the Declaration of Independence?"

"Yep." Abigail said, reaching back into the satchel and pulling out the sheets of paper with the copied down ciphers on them. "The key is the 20th book of Exodus, from the first testament."

Sadusky nodded in understanding. "In those days, the Bible was a common source for Ottendorf keys."

Just then, Sadusky heard his cell phone go off. When he checked the caller ID, he had to turn away from Abigail slightly, hoping she wouldn't hear.

"Sadusky." He answered.

"_It's Agent Wood_." His colleague Henrietta Wood stated.

"Well?" He asked. "Any news."

"_Mr. Poole made it to the hospital. They're telling me he went into cardiac arrest twice on the way, and once more on the operating table._"

"How is he now?"

"_He's still in surgery, but they're saying he's stable and his chances are good._"

"How much did he end up losing?"

"_He lost 39% of his blood. A few more moments and he probably wouldn't have survived."_

Sadusky exhaled with relief. "That was a close call."

"_I've arranged it so they won't be taking any documentation of Mr. Poole's condition, and that we're handling it."_

"Good."

"_We're also expecting Mr. and Mrs. Gates to be landing at the hospital in fifteen minutes."_

"They coming in by Chopper?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, keep in touch."

As he flipped his phone shut, He looked back towards Abigail. "Riley is going to be fine."

Abigail took a tremendous sigh of relief. As she smiled, her thoughts switched to Ben. Where was he? What was he doing at that very moment. Was he even still alive?

* * *

"Abigail, sweetheart!" Emily cried as the two women ran into each other's arms. Emily clasped the back of Abigail's head with her hand and held her close. "Thank goodness you're alright."

"I'm glad to be able to say the same for the both of you." Abigail answered as Patrick exchanged a hug with her.

"You're a tough cookie, you know that." Patrick said with a stern grin.

"Thank you, Patrick."

"Now, how is Riley doing?" Patrick asked, crossing his arms.

"Well, um.." Abigail began, flustered by the past hours' events. "He's in recovery now, he's undergoing a blood transfusion, and they're saying that if all goes well, he could be discharged within a day or so."

"So he's going to be fine?" Emily asked.

"Yes." From the looks of it, he's going to be fine."

Both Patrick and Emily breathed a great sigh of relief. He was almost like their second son, even though he'd never even met Emily until just the previous year.

"Now," Patrick asked sternly. "What about Ben?"

Abigail paused for a moment, trying to think of the right words to use. "I know he's alive."

She quickly pulled out her cell phone and flipped through her recent calls, playing a recording of the last call from Ben's cell phone. She then handed it to Patrick, who held it to his ear and listened carefully.

"Yes, that's Ben alright."

"Here, let me listen." Emily ordered, taking the cell phone and playing back the first few seconds of the message. Abigail could see what the false news had done to Emily, as her eyes were red and she trembeled slightly as she listened.

"Oh, thank God." Emily stated. "He's alive."

However, Emily's happiness didn't last too long, as she kept listening. "Who on earth his that?"

"Who?" Patrick asked.

"There's a man on the phone with the strangest English accent I've ever heard."

"Here, let me hear." Patrick said, taking back the cell phone. He listened for a few seconds, and before long recognized the voice of the person with Ben.

"Is that-"

"Yes."

"Than he's-"

"Yep."

"And you were-"

Abigail nodded. Patrick turned around and took a few short steps, glancing around while he thought of how to react to this.

"That Bastard." He cussed under his breath. "What's he done with my boy?"

"We don't know." Abigail responded. "All we know is that he's somewhere out west."

"Well, out west doesn't quite narrow it down by much." Patrick said.

"Could somebody please explain to me who that man was?" Emily asked demandingly and in a stern tone.

"Emily, his name is Ian Howe." Abigail responded to that question. "He was the investor who helped Ben find the _Charlotte_."

"And he was the reason Ben stole the Declaration of Independence." Patrick added.

"And now he has Ben somewhere?"

"Unfortunately, Yes." Abigail said softly.

"How on earth did he-" Emily began to make a statement, but the look on Abigail's face answered the question.

"He found another one, didn't he?" Emily asked softly. "Another Treasure."

"Yes." Abigail responded. "A Treasure of Spanish Gold and countless other artifacts almost 400 years old."

Emily slowly closed her eyes and turned away from Abigail and Patrick. She shook slightly, trying to keep herself from sobbing. She looked back at Patrick.

"_How many times do we have to lose him?"_ She whispered, her eyes watering. She sat down on a nearby sofa and gently buried her face in her hands. Patrick sat down next to her and tried to comfort her. As he handed her a tissue, Abigail turned back to her bag and pulled out the diary. She looked around, thinking the hospital was probably clean enough to look at it without risking contamination. She walked over to where Ben's parents were sitting, unwrapped the diary, and laid it on Emily's lap. She stopped crying the very second she saw it. After a few moments, she gasped softly and held her hand to her mouth. "Can it be?"

Patrick looked at the book curiously.

"Patrick, sweetheart?" Emily asked. "Could you fetch us some gloves from someone."

"I'm on it." He responded as he went to the counter to ask for some latex gloves. Meanwhile, Emily looked closely at the book, trying not to touch it or breathe on it.

"Sophie's diary." Emily remarked softly. "He found it."

"You've heard of it?"

"I told Ben the story when he was little." Emily said, recollecting to the days when Ben would be eager to listen to any kind of story of that type. "That poor girl."

"The legend says she was never found." Emily looked at Abigail, then back to the Journal. "She was lost in the forest after her father died."

Emily paused for a moment, staring at the journal for a few moments. Abigail could tell from Emily's expression that she knew more of the story.

"Oh, they found her, alright." Emily said in a solemn tone.

Abigail's eyes widened with surprise. "What? Where?"

"The following year, they say she wandered into a logging camp in Wyoming." Emily told Abigail. "She was hurt, starved, dirty, and lost. She couldn't even talk."

Abigail was stunned at what she was hearing. "How did you come to know this?"

"Back when I was in college, around the time I met Patrick, I was visiting the west for an independent study session on the pioneers. It was in a museum that I first heard her story. When they brought her back, she wasn't the same person she used to be. She'd turned wild, savage, like a beast of some kind. She would break out into these horrible manic fits of rage which would come out of nowhere. She wasn't terribly violent, or much anything else. She could barely function in society. I remember hearing of how she was sent to live with her sister, and they couldn't even get her to sleep in a bed. She'd always try to sleep under the bed, like it was a cave or something. She'd be starting fires, tearing pages out of books, smashing furniture, she even jumped out of her second story window. She finally had to be committed into an asylum, where she died from pneumonia not long afterwards."

Abigail slipped into a colorless gaze at the book, finally realizing how much suffering the family must have gone through.

"This book was said to be the only thing she kept from her past, along with the clothes she wore." Emily said, looking to see if Patrick had returned. "They said it might have been the trauma of witnessing her father's murder which drove her mad, but there was more evidence to suggest something else."

"What?" Abigail asked.

"When the doctors first examined her after she was found, they discovered that she'd been pregnant."

Abigail paused for a moment, still trying to imagine what horror this girl must have gone through. "Which means she wasn't out there alone."

"Probably not." Emily concluded. "A search to find the child was done, but nobody ever found anything. They assumed she'd either lost the baby in childbirth or to an illness or something after it was born."

Abigail paused for a moment. "I think Ben must know."

Emily looked at Abigail questionably. "What makes you say that?"

"He kept saying that he had to find this treasure, for her." Abigail responded. "It sounded almost as if he wanted to seek vengeance for her."

Emily nodded, making sense of her son's possible intentions. "Ben is a strong believer of the American Dream, which this girl was wrongly robbed of."

That was something Abigail could relate to very well, as Sophie was a person with whom Abigail seemed to have quite a lot in common with.

Abigail was slowly continuing to put together the pieces of this mystery in her head, which she hoped would lead them to Ben. After Patrick returned with a whole handful of Latex gloves, they decided that the first step towards helping Ben was by helping Sophie, helping her spirit finally be at peace. It was what he wanted.

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 9: Markings on the Wall


	9. The Markings on the Wall

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 9: Markings on the Wall

"Useless Idiots!" Ian cursed as he hurled his cell phone across the room, where it shattered into pieces after striking the wall. He'd gone through the hassle of obtaining the funds from his accounts in England and Scotland to hire a new group of "treasure hunters", and they couldn't get even the smallest task right. They'd all been ordered to keep a watch out for the four people who could thwart his plans of finding the treasure, as well as further carry out his plans. He was disgusted to hear that both Dr. Chase and Riley Poole had escaped from the Carroll estate with the diary they needed, and even more irritating, he could not track the whereabouts of Patrick or Emily Gates. They had vanished.

"I don't care what you need to do, FIND THEM!" He barked angrily at two of his men over another cell phone just a few moments later. He took another swig of beer before stepping out of the white van parked by the roadside to get some fresh air. As he watched the cars go by, he wondered how this great treasure could have stayed undiscovered after almost four centuries. He tried not to think of it too much, as he knew from the site of the silhouette of the Grand Mesa in the distance. The first clue Gates had provided them with seemed to be very cleverly written, as Ian could see in the endless wall found in the rock face of the world's largest flat-topped mountain. They had driven all day from the farmhouse in Clarkville to a rest stop near Grand Junction. There were other cars and people parked nearby. He'd seen two children running around, keeping an eye on everything that moved. He barked at them when they got too close to the van, sending them running away screaming. He couldn't let them see what was in the two windowless vans. Hidden behind what looked like boxes and pieces of furniture was an array of computers and monitors carefully laid out and fixed into place, creating a control center in the center of the first vehicle. They had satellite connections for keeping up with the news, and Ian had hired four operatives who had hacked into various private systems in an attempt to track down Ben Gates' four closest acquaintances. Meanwhile, the other van was guarded heavily by two large Hispanic men, both of whom sat in the front seats of the van eating snacks they'd gotten from the rest stop. The only contents of this van was a long wooden box, almost like a coffin, which was chained to the floor of the van. Inside was Gates, still bound in the chains from before, gagged and blindfolded with duct tape, and sedated. He'd been out like a light the entire trip.

"Ian!" A Man's voice called from inside the first van.

"Yes, Robert?" Ian responded to his cousin Robert, who'd been one of the first men Ian had hired for this new mission.

"I just got the recording of a phone call made on Dr. Chase's cell shortly after our men infiltrated her house." Robert said, handing Ian a pair of headphones. "You might want to hear this."

As Ian listened, he recognized Dr. Chase's voice, along with the voice of a middle aged man with a soft Brooklyn accent.

"We've Identified the other man as FBI agent Peter Sadusky."

Ian's eyes widened with anger. They'd gone to the FBI. They could expose the whole case to the entire nation.

"Don't get upset quite yet." Robert warned, motioning for him to keep listening. " I checked the data files on the open cases the FBI is currently investigating, and there's no record of a case involving Gates' death or the treasure. There is, however a bit of information on their we could use to our advantage, if you know what I mean."

Ian understood perfectly what his cousin meant after hearing Dr. Chase exclaim _"Riley's been shot_!"

"That was unexpected." Ian remarked, thinking of how even Ben's nerdy sidekick could master the wits to pull off a stunt like that. He also heard Abigail's request to Sadusky for him to find Ben's parents. From there, Ian was able to slowly piece together in his mind what Dr. Chase might be up to.

"Well, if this isn't a rather funny situation." Ian Chuckled. "It looks like the damsel is the one riding in to rescue the knight this time."

* * *

Later that night, Ian and his men set up for the night in a campground just outside Grand Junction. They built a fire and passed beers around, toasting to the new adventure, and the wealth they would obtain in the end. While the men relaxed and enjoyed themselves, Ian checked in on the second van, through the back window of which a light could be seen through the rear window. As he entered through the driver's side door, he looked back and saw Ben slowly going over the ciphers on the pages he'd brought with him. A gas lamp was sitting on top of the wooden crate Ben had been locked inside just hours before, which he was now using as a makeshift desk. He was chained in place by hand and foot, as if he was in the brig of an old Spanish merchant ship like what Merez and his men sailed to the new world.

"Gates?" Ian called, rousing Ben from his focus. "We need to discuss a few matters."

Ben glared at Ian for a few moments, before simply returning to his work. As Ian climbed into the back of the van, he noticed that Ben had only gotten to the third clue.

"Ben? Are you feeling alright?" Ian said mockingly. "You usually love to solve puzzles like this."

"I'm sorry, Ian." Ben responded sternly, not looking up at Ian. "This is the best I can do, under the circumstances."

Ian sat down opposite to Ben, trying to figure out how to cajole him into getting these clues donefaster. Then he thought maybe it was time he needed the right kind of push. The push came to Ben in the form of Abigail's voice. He listened to her word for work, and he could feel Goosebumps coming to the skin on his arms when he heard another voice on the recorder.

"Do you recognize the gentleman's voice in this, Ben?"

Ben paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Federal Agent Pete Sadusky."

"Good Job, Ben!" Ian said sarcastically as he continued to play the message. He heard Abigail and Sadusky discuss the staging of Ben's "Death" near Sterling as well as Ian's escape from prison. When Ian paused the recording, Ben seemed to be a little confused by Ian's reaction.

"You're not worried?" Ben asked.

"Worried? Me? About what?"

"They'll have the FBI right on your trail." Ben said, cracking a grin. "The only question is can you find the treasure before they find you?"

Ian snickered at Ben's comment. "I thought you might say something like that, but the real question is whether or not you're the one who should be worried."

Ian continued to play the tape. Ben listened to Abigail's words. Her voice in panic mode made Ben uneasy, considering how rare of an event it was that she went into panic mode. However, when he heard why she went into panic mode, his eyes shot straight in Ian's direction. "I told you I wasn't the one who should be worried, Ben."

Ben noticed something about the look on Ian's face. His eyes were casually darting in the direction of the recorder, and then towards Ben, and then back to the recorder, as if he was waiting for something. That something stopped Ben cold in his thoughts. _"Riley's been shot!"_

His eyes widened, and his heart skipped a beat or two with the mental image of his best friend being shot sweeping across his mind. _"No, he's not-"_

"Don't worry, you fool." Ian snapped loudly, as if he was making a joke over Riley's near-death experience. "I've heard he survived, _this time_."

Ben's heart sank when he heard Abigail request that they find his parents to protect them, bringing all four of them together into one target-for Ian's men. Ben watched cautiously as Ian slowly stood up.

"If I were you, Gates, I'd stop the screwing around and I'd get to work."

"Ian, don't do this." Ben pleaded, trying to reason with his former comrade. "I'll find the treasure, and you can have it, alright?"

Ian looked at him crossly, narrowing his eyes and glaring at Ben. "You're a liar."

Ben raised an eyebrow at Ian's remark.

"Don't think I'm dim enough to fall for that same trick twice, Ben."

"What trick?"

"The trick you and your father pulled at the Templar's." Ian snapped. "You're buying them time so they can find the treasure."

"Ian, that's not what they're trying to do."

"And how can you be so certain?"

"Because if they were I'm pretty sure they'd be here by now." Ben snapped back angrily at Ian. "That's why they got a hold of Agent Sadusky and the FBI-"

"There's no case open in their database concerning you or the treasure." Ian said. "They're not getting involved."

This information caught Ben off guard; it stopped him cold. He didn't understand why the FBI wouldn't pursue the trail of an escaped convict who was threatening the safety of what could be one of the nation's most valuable treasures. He knew Ian could find access to even the most highly classified documents the FBI had hidden away. Sadusky wouldn't do that, _except under unusual or extreme circumstances_. Ben just remembered that clause they had that they'd followed at Mount Rushmore. Ben's pause of silence gave Ian the answer he was looking for. Ian steadily reached into the pocket of his coat, pulled out his gun, and aimed it directly at Ben's head.

"Where are they." He asked bitterly. "I'm ordering you to tell me."

Ben sat there with his elbows on the desk, trying desperately to think of a plan on what to do next. He could already tell this wasn't the most pleasant situation. There was a lot on the line, his life and the lives of those he cared about, this long lost treasure, the honor and dignity of the Gates Family, and the memory of a young girl who had died over a century before he was born. It seemed as though no matter what he did, he'd risk losing everything and everybody he had in his life. The thoughts of never seeing his parents or Riley again were horrible enough, but the thought of never seeing Abigail again was too hard for him to imagine. At the same time, he couldn't forget Sophie's memory, and the sacrifices she and her father made to find this treasure. If he didn't honor her memory and find it in her honor, than nobody ever would. The words of Abraham Lincoln still echoing in his mind, Ben took a deep breath and confronted Ian.

"I just need to talk to her." Ben said cooly, trying to keep his eye contact with Ian to a minimum. "I'll get you the diary, just as long as I can be shure that she and Riley and my parents are safe."

Ian lowered his gun as he processed Ben's conditions. "I'll cooperate as long as I know for a fact that they are safe." Ben said.

"Alright." Ian agreed, reaching with his other hand into his other pocket, and retrieving Ben's cell phone. Taking deep breaths, Ben took the phone. As he flipped it open, he tried valiantly to conceal his nervousness, as that was the last thing he wanted Ian to see at that moment. At the same time, he was thinking of how this time, Abigail was the one who had to come up with the clever plan. He had no doubts in his mind that she could do it, but still his heart raced as he dialed her number, knowing very well this phone call could very well be the last time she would ever hear from him again.

* * *

Abigail sat next to Riley's hospital bed, having slept there the night before and all day, the third day since Ben left for Colorado. He'd slept through most of the transfusion and now the course of his recovery depended on his body's response to the procedure. Ever since he'd been wheeled out of the emergency room, she'd been slumped in the chair next to his bed. Her back ached, she felt a serious migraine coming on, her eyes were red and dry from crying, and she was starving, but she couldn't leave him. She wanted to kick herself for scolding him for drinking out of the milk carton. Abigail prayed he'd be alright, looking at the bloodstained ring box Riley had given her the night before. She hadn't even opened it yet. She was afraid to. She'd been staring at it for four hours straight when she heard some soft moaning coming from the bed. Abigail jumped from her chair, quietly making her way to Riley's side. The first good sign she could see that told her he would be alright was that his skin had started to return to its normal color.

"Riley?" She said softly. His eyes twitched for a few moments until he groggily opened his eyes. "Can you hear me?"

"Hey Abs." He said weakly, taking a deep breath.

"Hey buddy." Abigail responded, brushing the side of his face with her hand. "You made it."

Riley slowly turned his head and looked at his left forearm, completely encased in gauze bandages. He got a little fidgety when he saw the needles sticking into his arm. "What are those for."

"You lost almost four pints of blood, Riley." Abigail informed him, pointing to the almost empty plastic bag hanging from the dialysis machine he was hooked to. "So, whatever you do, do not touch them, because then I would really have to hurt you." Abigail said in a shaky tone, remembering what she'd seen the other night.

"What?" Riley said in disbelief. "Did I almost-"

"You did, Riley." Abigail said softly. "Three times."

Riley stared at her in shock for a few moments, blinking madly to make sure he wasn't dreaming. It also meant that the bossy older sister of his had just saved his life.

"Apparently you are just as stubborn as Ben."

Riley chuckled at that comment. He looked over at the table by her chair and saw the ring box sitting there.

"Did you like it?"

"I haven't opened it yet."

"Why not?"

"I can't."

"But Abby-"

"I just can't yet Riley." Abigail said sternly. "I want him to show me."

Riley nodded gently. "Any word on him?"

"No."

"How about Ian?"

"Nope."

Riley sighed and laid his head back into his pillow. "Back to square one."

"Yeah." Abigail sighed, sitting down on the bed next to Riley. Riley looked at her and could see she'd been crying – _a lot_.

Riley extended his right arm and she gently rested her head onto his shoulder, crying softly. Riley put his arm around her.

"Don't worry, Abs." Riley reassured her. "Ben's a tough knot, he'll be fine."

"I know, I know." Abigail responded through her tears. Then, from behind her, she heard her phone buzzing. She looked behind her and saw her phone laying on the table, moving from the vibrations. Riley gently winced as Abigail moved off the bed and she crossed the room. When she picked it up and flipped the cover open, she froze.

"It's Ben." She gasped. She took a deep breath before pushing the call button.

"Ben?"

"_Abigail?"_

Abigail breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're alright."

"_Well, not exactly."_ Ben responded softly. _"I need the diary."_

Abigail paused for a moment, confused at his request. "I beg your pardon?"

"_Abigail, things have changed out here. I need to find the treasure."_

"What?" Abigail looked at Riley in hesitation, then turned back to Ben. "Why are you doing this?"

"_Abigail, please try to understand." _Ben pleaded in a nervous tone. Abigail's nerves also began to bother her, as for all she knew somebody could be holding a gun to his head while he was speaking.

"I understand perfectly." Abigail stated softly, biting her lip. "Where can I meet you to give it to you."

"_Two of Ian's guards will be at the Downtown Library in New York tomorrow. I love you Abby."_

"But Ben-" She tried to reason with him, but the call ended. Abigail looked down at her phone in disbelief, shaking her head.

"Riley, he's helping them." Abigail said softly. "He's leading them to it."

"Abby." Riley said calmly, thinking of Ben's tactics with using logic. "What did he say."

"He wants the diary. We're just supposed to hand it over to them."

"Ian probably made him say that." Riley scoffed. "The scumball."

"It was something in his voice, Riley." Abigail said, inhaling deeply to keep herself from passing out. "It was his own words." It was a shock to her. She understood quite well that he was most likely being forced against his will, but even Ben wouldn't just hand it over without a fight. It just seemed so strange to her. Her eyes began to water when suddenly her phone went off again in her hand.

"_1 New Text Message_."

"_What_?" She whispered to herself. She paused for a moment to regain her strength, and took a deep breath as she opened the message.

"What is it, Abs?" Riley asked.

"It's a text message, from Ben."

_Right from wrong, seen from unseen,  
__The lines which separate unclear in between.  
__Word and rhyme, the hands of time,  
__Takes us back to the scene of the crime.  
__Glass will break and metals will rust,  
__Knowledge is forever, carry on it must.  
__The road not yet taken is the road we must take,  
__Pure in intention, make no mistake.  
__Deceit and lies are the devil's way,  
__Shall never be rewarded, come what may.  
__In the face of darkness the light will prevail  
__The burden to bear, the wind in the sail._

"I remember." Abigail said, her eyes scanning over the writing multiple times. "Ben wrote this."

"Sounds like a bunch of scriptures from fortune cookies to me." Riley said, scratching his head. Abigail glared at him in annoyance.

"It's a riddle." She concluded, looking at the words closer. "He's trying to tell us something."

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 10: The Winds are Calling


	10. The Winds are Calling

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 10: The Winds are Calling

Abigail read and re-read the twelve-line riddle to Riley time and time again over the first hour after it's reception. Chewing one fingernail off at a time, she kept thinking of what Ben could be saying through this message. She could remember Ben writing that one day while they were on the road to a conference. He'd said that it was centered around the meaning of studying history, and it's importance in the world, whatever that meant. She was in her chair by Riley's bed, listening to the heart monitor beep nearby. As she stared at the screen of her phone, the minutes seemed to slip by in slow motion as she tried to understand why he'd sent this to her. What was he saying?

"Abby, could you read it to me again?" Riley asked eagerly, typing away on his laptop. The police had been to Carroll Manor and found a lot of damage to the house had been done by a number of intruders. Abigail was afraid to find out what had been damaged, because there was so much in that house that was so highly valued to her, to all of them. She was sort of glad Ben wasn't there to see it, a thought which really bothered her. She took a tiresome sigh and read the riddle aloud to Riley.

_Right from wrong, seen from unseen,  
__The lines which separate unclear in between.  
__Word and rhyme, the hands of time,  
__Takes us back to the scene of the crime.  
__Glass will break and metals will rust,  
__Knowledge is forever, carry on it must.  
__The road not yet taken is the road we must take,  
__Pure in intention, make no mistake.  
__Deceit and lies are the devil's way,  
__Shall never be rewarded, come what may.  
__In the face of darkness the light will prevail  
__The burden to bear, the wind in the sail._

"Let's see here." Riley said aloud, holding his fist to his chin as he thought about the first line. "Right from Wrong, Seen from Unseen, The lines which separate unclear in between."

Abigail tried desperately what Ben had told her that day in the car. She could remember him saying something specific about that line, and that there were two parts which tied together on a common ground.

"Let's try to look at this like Ben would." Abigail suggested, rising from her chair and returning to her seat on Riley's bed. He looked at her with a skeptical face.

"How on earth do we pull that off?"

"Well, let's see." Abigail said, picking away at the first two lines. "The line separating both right from wrong and seen from unseen."

"Wait a minute." Riley said, snapping his fingers gently. "One's Judgment."

Abigail thought for a second about Riley's answer. True, it did answer the question of separating right from wrong, but not quite on seen and unseen.

"Abs, what did both the Templar's Treasure and Cibola have in common, aside from being really shiny?"

Abigail stared at him as she thought. They had a few things in common, but none she could think of that fit into their question.

"Think about it," Riley said, giving her that look he had every time he had the solution to a puzzle or problem, a very rare event. "Where were most of the clues?"

That's when it hit her. The cipher on the Declaration of Independence, the Silence Duegood Letters, the Statue of Liberty, and the faded stone island at Mount Rushmore. They were all in plain sight.

"That's clever of Ben to think of that, you have to admit." Riley remarked. The first part of the riddle was the most essential tool, which was the trained eye of the historical treasure hunter, able to see things that nobody else could see. Ben wanted to put emphasis on that, which was why he'd put it first in the riddle. Abigail remembered now.

"Alright, one down and five to go." Abigail said, moving to the next part. "Word and rhyme, the hands of time, takes us back to the scene of the crime."

"Well, that sounds pretty simple." Riley said. "Takes us back to the scene of the crime, the hunt takes us to where this all happened."

"Yes," Abigail added, giving Riley a clever look of her own. "But what if it doesn't just mean that?"

"What do you mean?"

"This is just a thought, but the hunts we've gone on haven't just been about finding the location of the treasure." She said, thinking of Cibola and the reasons everybody involved had for both trying to hide and uncover the lost city of gold. "The reason is crucial as well. Takes us _back_ to the scene of the crime."

"Oh." Riley responded slowly, a little disappointed his success streak had stopped there. "He's reminding us of the importance of this treasure's historical significance."

"That's right." Abigail stated, looking out the door to the bench in the hallway, where Emily had been sitting looking at the Diary all day while Patrick looked on while reading the newspaper to her. "Sophie."

"Okay, there's number two," Riley said, checking that one from his visualized list. "Now for number three."

"Glass will break and metals will rust, knowledge is forever, carry on it must." Abigail read. "Now he's putting emphasis on the importance of the history itself."

"Very true." Riley responded. "They say the paths of the past are the roots of the future."

Abigail agreed. Stories like that of Sophie's were classical examples of the tales of the lives of all the people who'd gone and made paths into the wilderness. They laid the foreground for the settlement of the American Midwest, a sacrifice which should be remembered. She knew very well the same kind of sacrifice was made by people in almost every aspect of United States history. It was something that made her proud to be an American, but at the same time it gave her an uneasy feeling about the current predicament.

"Okay, number four." Riley stated, motioning for her to read the fourth passage.

"The road not yet taken is the road we must take, pure in intention, make no mistake."

"Okay Carmen San Diego, let me try this one." Riley blurted before slipping into his thoughts on the passage. Abigail giggled slightly at the remark, but figured she'd give him another shot.

"It seems pretty simple." Riley explained. "We've always taken the unbeaten path, and benefited from it, even when everyone called us crazy. Even when we called ourselves crazy!"

Abigail smiled at his success of making sense of the passage. "Four down and two to go."

"Deceit and Lies are the Devil's way, shall never be rewarded, come what may."

Riley scratched his head briefly, seeing the conclusion in his mind but a little uncertain about it. He could tell the significance of the word "Devil" right away, thinking of Ian.

"We can't let Ian find the treasure." Riley stated swiftly. "That's what Ben's trying-"

"_Oh God._" Abigail said softly, interrupting Riley and stopping him in dead his tracks.

"Abigail?" Riley asked, raising his eyebrow. "Something hit a nerve?"

Abigail didn't respond right away; she only froze where she stood. Riley could see what was bothering her after a few moments. She knew the truth, and it scared her. It scared her a lot.

"He's going to lead them _away _from the treasure." Abigail responded shakily. "He's buying us more time."

Riley gave her a confused look. "Where in the name of Reese's Pieces did that come from?"

Abigail handed Riley her phone, pointing to the last part of the last message. "It's states that the right will triumph over the wrong."

"What, is he a fortune teller now?" Riley remarked hastily, trying to make sense of the last statement. "He get his hands on a Quija board or something?"

"Riley!" Abigail snapped. "Look at the last sentence and think for a moment."

Riley focused on the very last phrase of the riddle.

"What does wind do to a sail?" Abigail asked.

"It pushes it-" Riley hadn't even finished his sentence when he came to understand his friend's intentions. "He's the wind."

"And Ian and his knuckleheads are the sail."

Riley looked at the phone, then shook his head slightly in disbelief, inhaling nervously. "Abby, this is bad. This is _REAL _bad." He said in a low voice.

"I know." Abigail whispered, trying to resist the nervous breakdown she could feel coming on.

"They're going to find out eventually." Riley stated nervously. "And when they do, they'll-"

Riley's words were cut off with a sharp pitched sob from Abigail. Riley sat up, feeling his strength coming back slowly, and reached out both arms to Abigail, who fell into them like a ton of bricks. She collapsed into his chest, burying her face into his shoulder, for the second time. It made sense now, what Ben had done. Ben was telling them what he wanted them to do through that riddle. He wanted them to find Sophie's Treasure before Ian and his men did, just like they'd originally thought. He was telling them to focus on the clues, remember to look at things from the treasure hunter's perspective, and to remember that Sophie's honor and her family's dignified name was at stake. After all that family went through, should their story remain nothing but a fairy tale? They didn't want that. Ben didn't want that. As honorable as his decision was, the horrible facts hit Riley harder than the bullet that had almost ended his life.

"Ian's going to find out eventually, and he'll-" Riley stated bluntly, choking over his own words. It was terrifying because to them, it was like Ben was making some sort of final request, and he was fully aware of it. It was like he was already saying goodbye. He was on a suicide mission.

Suddenly, Abigail lifted herself from Riley's side and wiped her face with the sleeves of her coat. "We need to find it, Riley." She stated clearly, shaking off her fears as hard as she could. "We need to find Sophie's Treasure."

He knew she was right, but that was easier said than done. "Ian's still expecting the Diary, Abigail." Riley reminded her.

"We have everything we need out of it." Abigail stated, clearing her eyes. "Sophie's words are safe."

"But Ian will destroy it."

"Riley, it's just a book." Abigail told him sternly. "As long as her words are known to us, it's alright."

"What about Patrick and Emily?"

"Of course we need to tell them." Abigail said, looking out the hallway at the elderly couple. "We'll need their help."

"And Sadusky?"

"We can work something out with him, as long as we do it very carefully." Abigail said, regaining her stamina. Her voice was cleared up, as were her eyes. She was tired of worrying. Now was the time to act. She turned towards the door to Riley's room and entered the hallway to confront Patrick and Emily. However, she was stopped at the sight of Emily's nervous trembling, something she rarely saw Ben's mother do. She then noticed the sound amplifier Patrick held in his hand, the kind people with hearing problems use to hear things better. One earphone was going to Patrick's ear, the other to Emily's.

"We heard the whole thing." Patrick said solemnly. His eyes were blotchy and he clasped the pocket watch Ben had given him for his 65th Birthday the previous year, the one with the built in picture of His and Emily's second wedding ceremony, at Philadelphia City hall. Abigail remembered that day very clearly, how happy Ben had been to have both his parents back again. He knew how much Ben's relationship with his mother had strained following their divorce. She couldn't believe that Emily had never even met Riley up until last year. Her thoughts were interrupted by Emily's embrace, as she went to Abigail and wrapped her arms around her. Abigail could feel Emily's body jolt gently as she softly sobbed a few times. It was hard to see this strong woman cry, very hard indeed. She wiped her eyes, looked back at Patrick, and then back to Abigail.

"When do we leave?"

"Soon." Abigail responded, resting her hands on Emily's shoulders. "Very soon."

As Emily returned to her seat next to Patrick, Abigail looked to her side and saw her reflection in a decorative mirror, She slowly rose her arm, brushing her fingers through her hair. She knew what she had to do, and nothing was going to stop her.

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 11: In Plain Sight


	11. In Plain Sight

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 11: In Plain Sight

"How on earth do you expect me to agree to this?" Sadusky exclaimed, standing at the foot of Riley's hospital bed. "This is against over two dozen of our strictest policies!"

"Thirty four, to be exact." Riley said, looking up from his hospital food, which he'd been slowly picking away at for over two hours. Sadusky shot a glare at Riley, then turned back towards Abigail.

"Look, I know you're upset, Dr. Chase." Pete said with remorse, starting to revert back to his professional manner. "But I just can't allow my teams to put four civilians at risk over a treasure nobody is sure even exists."

Abigail stared at the federal agent, her arms crossed and her eyes narrow. "I know Ben." She said flatly and sternly. "For him to put himself in the sort of situation he has, then he must be positive that it exists."

"He knows what he's doing." Patrick insisted, also in a stern tone. "He's practically willing to end his life to protect something which could prove to be a large piece of this nation's history."

"I understand that." Sadusky said. "As honorable as that action was, we still don't have enough credible proof that this story is even true, that this story in this diary you have ever even happened."

Abigail glanced at Emily, who in turned glanced to her workbag she'd had retrieved from their Philadelphia home. She briefly and briskly walked away for a moment, and came back with the book in her hands, as well as a thin manila envelope.

"This is the diary." Emily stated, handing the artifact to Sadusky, back in it's bag. He looked over the exterior of it slowly. He could see it was authentic, that it was that of a young girl's and that it must have been from at least before the turn of the century. "According to the legend, Sophie disappeared after her father was killed, and they never found her." Sadusky informed the four of them, obviously wishing the story was true. "There was no record of a diary of this source recovered from the campsite, which meant that if there was a diary, then she must have taken it with her." Patrick sighed in disappointment, Riley slumped back into his inclined backrest.

"I'm sorry." Sadusky said softly as he turned to walk towards the door.

"Mr. Sadusky." Emily said, halting his walking and grabbing his attention. He looked back at her just in time to see her pull a large brown book from her workbag. She opened the front cover, showing Sadusky that it was a photo album. "I present to you, Miss Sophie Hughes." She said, showing Sadusky the large black and white image of a young woman. Sadusky's eyes widened briefly, then narrowed in disbelief.

He looked into the photo and saw a young girl, about eighteen or nineteen years old, lying in a hospital bed. The look on her face made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Her face had become tight and pale, making her look like she hadn't eaten or slept in several months. Her eyes had widened to such an extent that her eyelids had begun to curl up, making it almost impossible for her to even close her eyes.

"Is this really her?" Sadusky asked shakily and in a low voice.

"According to the accounts I've read, she was found wandering through a logging camp in southern Wyoming, near the Utah border." Emily informed, turning the page to reveal the actual letters written by the men who had found her. One man described her as looking like a wild savage, especially since she reportedly bit him in the wrist. She was described as shrieking crazily at the sight of other people, whenever she was spoken to, even at the sight of a lit candle. It was from this that many of the doctors who examined her concluded she was of Welsh lineage."

Sadusky looked through the letters from various doctors from cities including Denver, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, and Grand Junction.

"The authorities were able to locate the two families who had adopted Sophie's younger sisters. The family who adopted her youngest sister Millicent, or "Nellie" as she liked to be called, who had relocated to Park City, Utah, was able to positively identify the wild girl found at the logging camp as Sophie. Because Nellie was only ten years old at the time, it was extremely traumatic for the young girl. Nellie's other sister, Violet, was tracked down living in a boarding school in Seattle, where she'd been sent by her adoptive parents from their home in Everett, Washington. Violet, fourteen years old at the time, was able to positively identify both her lost sister's and late father's handwriting in the diary which was found with the wild girl." Emily explained swiftly to the agent.

"That diary they found was the very one you just looked upon."

Sadusky nodded in agreement; he'd been convinced, or so they thought.

"We found that the address the diary had been sent from was that of Nellie's grandson, Morgan Hughes."

Riley and Abigail both raised their heads at this news. "So, that's who M. Hughes was?" Riley asked. Sadusky nodded.

"Nellie's adoptive parents allowed her to keep her original last name." He explained. "She never married, but had one son out of wedlock, Andrew Hughes, born in 1877."

"The missing heir to the name." Abigail noted.

"They moved to Clarkville in 1890, where they purchased a cattle ranch. After Nellie's death in 1909, Andrew took over the farm, which was passed on to his son Morgan in 1922."

"Whatever happened to Morgan?" Riley asked.

"Morgan and his wife took over the farm, but when the Great Depression struck they planned to move back to Denver, which they did in 1935. The State purchased the land in reserve for use by Government Programs, after which it was turned over to the Yuma County Historical Society."

"Who must not have done a great job at keeping an eye on the place." Patrick remarked.

"That's where the story ended for Sophie's Treasure." Sadusky said as he finished speaking. "As far as I know, Morgan and his wife had no children, and Violet never married or had any children of her own."

"Ian was the one who found the diary." Abigail said. "Morgan must have hidden it on the farm to keep it safe."

"Well apparently, his plan didn't work."

"Hey, Wait a minute!" Riley suddenly blurted out. "If you already knew it was true, why were you busting our chops like that?"

Sadusky chuckled softly. "I needed to be sure your intentions were pure."

Abigail thought back to Ben's riddle. In a way, Ben must have thought of that as the Treasure Hunter's anthem.

"So, Pete," Abigail began to ask once again, standing before him. "Can you help us?"

Pete glanced over the letters and the photo once again, looked up at Abigail, and after a few moments, slowly began to crack a weak smile. "You know, you've got a lot of gumption right?"

Breathing a sigh of relief, Abigail threw her arms around Pete's neck. After a moment or two, he returned a pat on the back to her. "Don't worry, I'll get you guys set up with everything you'll need."

"Really?" Riley asked eagerly, grinning from ear to ear. "We're going after it after all?"

"You bet we are." Emily stated firmly, holding the diary. "Now you'll be able to see for yourself where Ben gets his wits from." She said, looking at Patrick confidently. He returned to her the same look.

"Now, how did you manage to get this all cleared?" Patrick asked.

"Let's just say I managed to keep the true matter of this off the records." Sadusky answered.

The four of them felt a sigh of relief sweep over. They were one step closer to finding the treasure, and hopefully, Ben too.

"You'll each be given aliases with all the necessary terms and documents." Sadusky said before turning to the leave the room. "I can see where Ben get's his sense of intellect from." He mentioned to Emily.

"Wait, Pete!" Abigail said before he left the room. "There's just one thing we need to do first." She glanced down at the diary in Emily's hands.

* * *

Downtown New York City was in the center of one of the roughest traffic hours. The sidewalks in front of the city's main library were severely congested as Abigail fought her way through the crowd, looking for the man wearing the blue Yankee's cap and the Red sneakers. Her eyes darted amidst the hundreds of people buzzing around her. She'd seen a lot of Yankee caps, but none of those she found were also wearing red sneakers, until her eyes crossed a rather tall looking man sitting on the front steps of the building. When she began to approach him, she saw the dull red sneakers on his feet, and the baseball cap sitting backwards atop his shaved head. She also saw he was reading a particular copy of Riley's first book, the one on the Templar Treasure. He looked up to her, removing his sunglasses as he stood up to meet her.

"Dr. Chase I presume?" The man asked, his breath smelling of cigarette smoke. Abigail nodded. The man stepped down off the stairs towards Abigail, causing her to almost take a step backwards. She stopped herself as soon as she saw him reach for a rather familiar looking piece of men's apparel on his person.

"My boss said you have something for me?" He asked. Abigail slowly and hesitantly reached for the book, wrapped in paper and placed inside a manila envelope.

"Here it is." She said quietly. He grinned slightly as he opened it, seeing the diary inside. In return, the man handed her a very familiar looking wristwatch. As she took it in her hands, she could automatically tell it was Ben's. His initials were engraved on the side.

"Wait a min-" Abigail began to ask the man, but when she looked up, he was gone. Her eyes darted along the street, heart pounding. It was gone. The diary was gone. Abigail took a deep breath as she turned towards the street, pushing her way through the people. She occasionally glanced over her shoulder, looking to see if someone was following her. She walked over to one of the waiting Taxis, skipping past two random cab before climbing into the third one. As it drove away, a man on the second floor of the library recorded it on a camera phone. He glanced around, down the aisles to see if anybody else was around. When he didn't see anybody, he sent the text message; "We've made the exchange."

* * *

The cold night in the Desert didn't agree with Ian, bundled up in two sweaters, a small package in his hands. His eyes focused on the light flickering from out the back window of the large white van parked by the roadside. He opened the back door and looked into the back. Ben was there, still chained to his makeshift desk with a lantern sitting atop it. Ian couldn't help but notice the long, thin slit on Ben's face running along his cheek, a streak of dried blood pointing vertically down his face and throat. He also noticed Ben's subtle wincing every time he moved his left hand, which was covered in knicks, scrapes and bruises.

"What happened to you, old man?" Ian asked as he climbed into the van. Ben glared back at his captor with cold eyes.

"I finished decoding all the ciphers." He said, also wincing each time he took a deep breath.

Ian grinned. "That's a good man," He remarked with a smile. "A good man indeed."

Ben was about to remark that response, but resisted. He had to be civil with Ian, even though in reality he wanted nothing more other than to snap his neck. While Ian was gone retrieving the Diary, his hired thugs had roughed Ben up pretty bad. One of them tried to shave his face while he was unconscious, and when he hadn't completed all the ciphers by a certain time, one of the other men had smashed him in the back with a wooden plank, which now hurt him to breathe fully.

"I need the diary's entries in order to finish figuring out the meanings to each of these clues."

"Ben, I still don't understand why you didn't scan them with the ciphers." Ian said softly, glaring at Ben. "That would have made things so much easier for all of us, including Dr. Chase."

Ben clenched his teeth at the mentioning of Abigail. "You'd better-"

"I didn't." Ian insisted, hinting that Abigail and Riley hadn't been touched since the other night. "My accomplice lost her in the crowd. We gave her a gift from you."

Ben looked at Ian with a startled expression. "What gift?"

"Ben, what time is it?"

When Ben looked towards his wrist, he froze when he only saw the outline in the tanned skin of his wrist.

"I'm sure it will be a wonderful memento of you for her to keep." Ian said, dropping the package containing the diary on the top of the crate with a thud. 'You've got until the morning to figure the rest out."

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 12: Seclusion


	12. Seclusion

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 12: Seclusion

The cold water swept over Ben's face, his hair being matted down to his scalp like plaster. His back was pressed against the rough surface of the rock wall. He stared up into the oasis he found himself in, watching the water falling in front of him. Although he didn't want to, he kept his focus on where he was. He'd stripped down to just his cargo shorts and was given an hour to shower off in a shallow spring hidden amongst the rocks near the rocky edge of the base of the Grand Mesa. He drank the fresh water, which felt good after drinking nothing but luke-warm green tea which he was still surprised by drinking hadn't made his throat bleed. Although the knicks and scrapes and bruises stung like hell in the water, it still felt good after being locked up in that van for so many days. As the minutes ticked by, he thought of them; Abigail, Riley and his parents. Had Riley really been shot? Was he dead? What about Abigail? She usually lost her mind every time she misplaced her car keys, but he was worried this could push her over the edge. Emily probably wasn't that far behind her. He had flashbacks from when his parents first split up. For the first six or seven years following the divorce, Emily barely saw Ben, trying to attempt seeing Patrick as little as possible. His gut wrenched and twisted over the thoughts of his father. If the fears he'd carried in the pit of his stomach for the last four days were true, then he knew his remaining days were numbered. He didn't really feel scared, he'd come close to getting himself killed more times than he could count. It was what it would do to the people he knew. He remembered the look of pleasure on Ian's face when they showed him copies of his own obituary, something people normally weren't supposed to see.

"_I'm sorry_." Ben muttered silently to himself. He'd been repeating that phrase silently over and over several times over the last day and a half. There were so many things he wanted to tell her, do for her, make her happy. He thought of what she'd think of the ring. If Riley had survived, would he be able to muster up enough strength to show it to her. His thoughts of Abigail only reminded him of what would really torment his father. This would be the end of the Gates family line. He'd never even gotten to discussing marriage to Abigail, much less children. He'd never really thought about the idea of being a father. Growing up he was always so harshly scorned by his father by pursuing that "silly" treasure his grandfather had told him about. In the years since they'd found the Templar's Treasure together, did he actually picture himself having a family with Abigail.

Ben closed his eyes, letting reality melt away into the darkness, which at that moment would be his only means of even temporarily escaping his situation. Every thought turned to Abigail. As he listened to the sound of the water falling from the stream above, he could almost hear her laughing. She had the funniest laugh, especially when she laughed so hard that she began snorting. He thought it was cute how she blushed as red as an apple every time she did that. It was what he missed the most during the four months they'd been split up for. The memory of that broken cherub's head flying across the room brought chills to him, because that was the only time he'd ever seen her like that; hurt, betrayed, neglected. He'd almost lost her to the way about him that had almost become second nature. It was because of this that he'd tried so hard to change. He went to the couple's therapy, read every relationship book he could find, and found it easier than he thought, a puzzle of some sorts. The last year since he'd taken on this personal transformation, he'd seen a difference in himself. He was happier.

The sudden loud chirping of a bird coming from somewhere snapped him out of his daze and back into reality. The sunlight stung at his eyes as it bounced through the water, reflecting dimly against the rocks. His thoughts kept wandering around so much that he lost track of which clue he'd been thinking of. At the same time, he knew that aside from the four people closest to him in his life, the rest of the world thought he was already dead. It hadn't really bothered him up until that point. Trying to clear his mind again, he laid back against the rock, away from the water, behind the wall of water. He took deep breaths, remembering them, counting them, missing them. He laid his hand on his chest, one of the last places Abigail had touched him. He could feel his heart beating, he could hear it, and feel it.

_That was it!_

His eyes snapped open as he fully remembered repeating the second clue to the treasure. He thought of how all riddles used the technique of complementation to express ideas and facts, like how pulse and breathing were the physical signs of life. He went over the clue in his head a few times, just slower than before, and almost instantly pieces of the puzzle began to grow clear. Facts that he could usually remember, sometimes better than he could remember what day of the week it was, restored the faith in him. Taking another deep breath, he sat forward this time, right in the center of the torrent of spring water cascading down from above. As the water crashed down, buffering his head and shoulders, his thoughts took him to what he needed to focus on. He'd already focused on it before, but now he needed to do it differently.

First, he remembered Mount Vernon, the President's birthday. In his words to the President, he expressed the ideal that he'd kept close to his heart with every single breath he'd taken since that stormy night in the attic in 1976. The impact that sacrifices those people had made shaped the courses of both the vast history of the United States and the lives of millions of people for generations to come. He understood how it had happened, and he understood why it was done, but now he wanted to try putting them together, how they complimented each other.

His first thoughts went to Thomas Gates. What could he see with this view. He felt he'd seen it before, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He had the visual image of Thomas sitting at that desk in the tavern, young Charles nearby, deciphering that code in the Booth Diary. Uncovering the first key to the city of gold, Thomas knew the consequences of the Confederacy finding the treasure. He knew what he _could_ do, and he knew what he _had_ to do. That decision cost him his life, but it saved the treasure.

Then his thoughts came to James Hughes. It started with the pure love for his daughters which led him to the United States to find the treasure. Along the way, James watched as the picture grew bigger, bigger than his three girls. It was a treasure few people believed even existed, a treasure thought to be lost forever, a treasure only he had the key to. Like Thomas Gates, Hughes paid for the choice he made with his life, and he saved not only the treasure but his daughter. It was only a shame she hadn't saved herself. He was right, Ben had heard this before. These two men, like many others in history, saw how they could impact these potentially historical events. They saw why they needed to do what they did. It was so simple Ben couldn't figure out why he hadn't seen it before.

"_Can it really be that simple?"_

They thought the choices they made were pure because basically, it was the right thing to do. They both knew their choices and actions could benefit the lives of millions of people as well as the course of the nation's history. They were the only ones at that moment in time when things could have gone terribly wrong, with the window of opportunity wide open, they leapt through it because they were the only ones who could do it. Because it was their responsibility. That was the answer he needed. The fear was gone. The doubt was gone.

* * *

Abigail stared at herself in the mirror, trying to ingest the new look she'd taken on. They'd been helped by the FBI, while in plain sight, and could not be seen. They weren't in secret headquarters in the underground chambers of the buildings of Washington DC, or in some secluded area. They were in the Bronx. Abigail stared at her hair. Her once long, golden blond hair was now straightened, cut to the length of her chin, and a rich, dark brown.

"_Oh my God_." She stammered silently, the sound of shear terror in her voice. "_I am Posh Spice_."

"Abigail, Sweetheart?" A woman's voice coming from the other side of the closed bathroom door called. "Are you almost finished?"

"It's alright, Em, you can come in." Abigail answered. The door slid into the wall and Emily stepped into the bathroom. Abigail had to blink several times to adjust her vision. Her soft gray hair had been straightened and extended, swept back into a bun behind her head. "I swear, if I didn't know any better, I could close my eyes and for all I knew it could be 1974."

Abigail cracked a smile, noting that the waterproof concealer and highlights made her look so much younger. "How are you doing?"

"I'm terrified." Emily responded. "I keep telling myself he wouldn't want me to be scared, but I can't help it."

"Of course you can't help it." Abigail said, putting her hand on Emily's shoulder. "You love him."

Emily watched as Abigail sat down in front of Judy Sadusky's vanity, examining the brown contact lens' concealing her soft blue eyes.

"Riley showed me the ring." Emily said. Abigail hesitated for a moment, cautious about what she would say to her potential future mother-in-law.

"Did he?" Abigail remarked, still trying to focus on her looks to avoid saying the wrong thing.

"He said you're waiting." Emily said, sitting on the bench next to Abigail. "Waiting for him to give it to you himself."

Abigail nodded. She hesitated to say anything more, having the song _Travellin' Soldier_ by the Dixie Chicks stuck in her head. She thought of the ring, still in the box stained with Riley's blood, sitting in her purse. Emily took Abigail by the hands, knowing of the words she truly needed to hear.

"Abigail, listen to me." Emily said sternly. "He loves you more than anything else, no treasure in the world is more important to him than you."

Abigail cracked a smile at the comment, she knew it was true, but deep down inside she wondered how Emily came to know to say just that statement. Then it hit her.

"Those are his very words, Abigail."

Abigail looked at Emily with a softened expression. "I love him too."

"I can see that." Emily said, placing her hand over her own wedding band. "Ben and Patrick are alike in so many ways. Stubborn, witty, a bit childish sometimes, but hearts don't come any purer than that of a Gates."

"That's beautiful, Emily." Abigail complimented. "As well as very true."

Abigail knew where a lot of Emily's words of the heart came from. She'd seen their garage in Philadelphia, and the boxes and boxes of love novels Emily had read over the years. She'd spent over three decades of her life alone, surrounded by her work; something she terribly regretted.

"Here, come on." Emily said, standing from the bench. "They're getting everything ready in the other room."

Abigail nodded as she followed Emily into the Sadusky's cellar game room, which was filled with about a dozen FBI agents. However, there wasn't a laptop or cell phone anywhere in the room. The curtains were drawn, and the neighborhood children were playing in the yard, warding off any of Ian's spies. One FBI agent specializing in undercover operations with makeup and disguises sat on a barstool, wearing an ACDC T-shirt, slowly filling in fibers to create a synthetic beard for Patrick.

"Alright, Mr. Gates." Agent Greene instructed to Patrick about his newly acquired facial hair. "This solution holding the fibers in place is irritant free, waterproof, and it's so thin you can barely feel it."

"How am I going to get it off?"

"Rubbing Alcohol."

Patrick paused nervously for a moment. "Which means putting rubbing alcohol somewhere where one should never put rubbing alcohol."

"I'm just kidding." Green said with a chuckle. "There's a special solution, it will just wash off."

Patrick nodded as he looked in the hand mirror he'd been given. He did look different, he almost didn't recognize himself.

"I do believe this is going to be interesting." Patrick stated aloud.

"Aren't you nervous?" Riley asked from the nest room.

"I've been nervous about everything since 1964, Riley." Patrick replied. "How's your arm, son? What's your pain rating?"

"Well, I was at a 6 ½, now I'm at about a 2." Riley said, after taking the painkillers he'd been given for his arm. "I'm Lucy in the sky with Diamonds!"

Half the room snickered at that comment. When Sadusky entered the room wearing Jeans and Sneakers, Abigail was taken aback.

"What?" He asked after she'd stared for a few moments.

"I've just never seen you out of a suit and tie." Abigail said, still fidgeting with her hair. "It's kind of strange."

"_Tell me about it!"_ A voice called from the top of the cellar stairs.

"Very funny, Judy!" Pete called up the stairs. "Alright, we've got four aliases established and ready to go." He announced, holding four large envelopes in his hands.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce the Kingswood Family, Brian and Victoria, the retired couple out of Newton, Kentucky, and their two grown children, daughter Jenny and son Davis."

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 13: The Invisible River


	13. The Invisible River

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 13: The Invisible River

The fifth day of the hunt for Sophie's Treasure began quite abruptly for Ben, being dragged out of his wooden prison, the chains removed, and splashed with cold water. Ian wasn't there, but four of his hired hunters guarded the van heavily as Ben changed from one set of dirty clothes into another, his own clothes having been destroyed in the mock crash. They felt like they hadn't been worn, washed, or even seen the light of day in fifteen or twenty years, and Ben could constantly feel dirt and dead grass coming out of the fabric. He quickly gulped down the dixie cup of extremely strong coffee, and knocked on the back window to let the guards know he was finished. The door opened and two heavyset Hispanic men peered in.

"Ready?" One of them asked in an eager tone. "Mr. Howe is expecting you."

"I'm ready." Ben said, clearing his throat as he climbed out of the van. As he crossed the desert clearing that Ian and his men had set up camp in, he could see Ian crossing from the other side of the camp, as the two vans were parked at opposite ends of the clearing. Ben glanced around, trying to figure out where they were. He knew they were near the Grand Mesa, but they must have driven to a different face, as the monstrous rock formation which had been to the east of them before, was now off to the west.

"Morning, chaps." Ian said semi-pleasantly, grinning in the form of a smirk. "Sleep well?"

"Fine." Ben replied. "Just fine."

Ian nodded, looking straight through Ben's dulled glaring eyes. "Shall we get started?"

Ben took out the brown folder he'd had underneath his arm, which contained the image of the map. Ian looked on tentatively as Ben went over the map, which showed a long line running diagonally across the page and distinct patterns indicating the mountains.

"This is a copy of the map that Sophie's father drew in the diary, as you saw before." Ben explained, Ian nodding in recollection. "He had apparently traced it with the use of a lamp and some thin parchment." Ben pointed out how the lines were very rough and jagged. It took a magnifying glass to see, but Ben believed the map had been drawn by the method of pointillism, the use of hundreds, even thousands of small dots which had apparently been applied to the paper by use of a fountain pen. The starting point of the map was written in the form of the first clue, which was what led them to the Grand Mesa. On the map, the mesa appeared as a jagged circle, with a dark line indicating the Colorado River curved above it. It was only one point on the map, which was apparently drawn of the entire southwestern edge of the continent. According to the diary, the ciphers had been written on the back of the original map, as the geographical map contained very little writing.

"Is there a way of telling in which location we are to start at?" Ian asked, looking over Ben's shoulder at the map.

"I do believe so." Ben responded. "Do you have the diary?"

Ian quickly reached into the pocket of his jacket and retrieved the diary, which he handed to Ben. As he flipped through the pages as delicately as he could, Ben glanced occasionally at Ian. He glanced a few times over his shoulder before turning the page revealing a series of drawings in the diary, on the fifteenth page in. The first was of a speckled serpent. Ben held the corner of the page with the serpent drawn on it over the spot on the map which he believed was the Grand Mesa. The curve of the snake fit in perfect alignment with the curve of the river.

"The serpent of fire shows the way, eastward leading in the light of day." Ben stated the second clue aloud. Ian nodded again slightly.

"So the treasure is up the Colorado River."

"Presumably." Ben replied. "I'm thinking it might also be up the Gunnison River somewhere."

"_Presumably?"_

"I'm certain it is correct, Ian." Ben said, trying to reassure him. "Explorers in those days used rivers to keep their bearings on where they were, and this must be the way they took into the mountains."

Ian snatched the diary carelessly from Ben's hands, looking at the page. "There's more to the second clue, Ben."

"Yes." Ben responded. "Eyes with no sight can see with no light, unhindered only by the Lord's own might."

"What does that mean?"

"It means the next clue is either something out of current sight or something that can't be seen."

Ian scoffed, puffing a strand of hair from his face with his breath. "It's always the riddles, isn't it?" He grumbled as he stormed off back towards the vans, his men leading Ben along the way as well. Ben glanced back over his shoulder towards the meandering valleys of the Colorado river he could see to the west. Taking a sigh of bittersweet relief, he turned back to return to the van.

* * *

Abigail's eyes slowly opened to the sight of the sunrise over the landscape of Southern Colorado, the Rocky Mountain range silhouetted against the sunshine dawning on the new day. She'd had her arms crossed against the edge of the door of the cabin, where she figured she must have fallen asleep. She remembered looking up at the stars, which had shined so brilliantly over the Midwest over the previous night. She wondered how she would ever look at them the same again, knowing he was up there and not with her. Sometime during the night, the song _I Believe_ by Brooks and Dunn played, not helping that dreaded feeling in the pit of her stomach one single bit. She'd also been going over in her head the new facade she'd taken on, her newly acquired hairstyle and dress apparel reminded her of that all too soon. The second she was on the ground, Abigail Chase would temporarily cease to exist. The blonde history-whiz that all the kids had made fun of back in grade school was now a skinny brunette; a freelance artist breaking herself free of her Cincinnati studio to take a rafting trip on the Colorado River with her parents and kid brother. Their intention was clear; Jenny's intention's were clear.

The story of her newly acquired family seemed to unfold around her like a well-oiled machine. Jenny was a wild-spirited woman of thirty-four years, with a passion for photography, nature, and freelance art and music. Her brother Davis, six years her junior, sat across the cabin from her; a musician with a leather jacket and the silhouette of an eagle shrouded in the stars and stripes tattooed on his shoulder blades, who had almost magically taken the place of Riley Poole. Their parents were sitting in the front seats of the cabin, Brian and Victoria Kingswood. The elderly couple who had both escaped England during the years following World War II, coming to the United States and settling in the Cincinnati suburb of Newton, Kentucky, located along the shores of the Ohio River. Brian, who had since come into existence in the place of Patrick Gates, was a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Ohio in Cincinnati. It was at that very same University that Victoria Kingswood, or "Vicki" as she preferred to be called, worked as a Professor of Anthropology, a clever scheme to disguise the knowledgeable Emily Appleton Gates.

Their small twin-engine plane took off from a small rural airport just outside of Cincinnati, with a special agent from the FBI giving the aircraft registry under The State of Ohio. It was the first time Patrick had flown a plane since selling his own in 1984 to help pay for Ben's schooling, and surprisingly to everybody, primarily him, it wasn't as difficult as he thought it would be. Emily had slept most of the way; completely spent from worrying about her son. Abigail's attention focused back to the sketchpad on her lap, which she'd been told to fill up a few pages of with some sketches. She'd taken some art courses in college, but didn't have too much art expertise to fall back on, and wanted to avoid discussing it with anybody. The camera she'd been given, on the other hand, she knew very well. Although it was much different from the one she used for work, it was still the nicest camera she'd ever laid her eyes on.

Riley's attention was on the laptop he'd been given, an older model than his own but still useful when it came to all the programs they were going to need. There was a wireless internet connection with a signal scrambling program to hide the signal from any receiver other than that of Sadusky's very own laptop, which never even left his house. The cover of the laptop was plastered with stickers and photos of places Davis Kingswood had apparently traveled. After dropping out of college, Davis worked as a construction worker in Nashville for a few years before attending a music school in Atlanta, followed by his move back home to Cincinnati. Riley's complexion had changed drastically. Aside from his hair being trimmed shorter and highlighted to a darker shade of black, he'd had a layer of fake tanner applied to his skin in addition to the fake tattoo on his back. Sadusky and the other agents felt Riley's character might be a little hard for him to pull off, as the transition from the computer whiz from Jersey City seemed to stand out greatly against most of the other backgrounds they'd come up with.

"Is your back still burning?" Abigail asked.

"No, it's just itching like crazy now." Riley said, vigorously rubbing his back against the backrest of his seat.

"That tattoo's just fake, right?" Patrick asked.

"Yeah, it's fake." Riley responded. "They had to use that little drill for the outline and the basic shapes, to make sure it wouldn't come off."

"It's waterproof, right?" Abigail asked again. "We are going rafting after all."

"The girl who put it on said so."

"Did you like her?"

"She was nice."

"Riley?"

"Come on, she looked like Abby off of _NCIS_!"

"Oh, alright lover boy." Abigail teased. "Don't get your heart tied up in a knot."

"Speaking of heart, how are you feeling, Riley?" Patrick asked, looking back at his newly acquired son. "How's your arm?"

"Hurts like hell." Riley said, gently rubbing his left forearm. His medications were keeping the pain at a somewhat low level, but the bullet which ripped through his arm did extensive nerve, muscle and tissue damage, which could take several months to heal, if not longer. Looking at his arm, Riley couldn't help but think about Ben, how much he'd possibly been hurt by Ian and his thugs. His thoughts of Ben drew his attention back to the second clue. He'd gotten the page of the diary with the map on it blown up to make it easier to navigate around the rugged terrain of the Rockies. Considering it had been drawn over 400 years ago, it was quite complicated and detailed. He looked through it with a magnifying glass, hoping to find a sign or something to help him pinpoint where the clues were leading them, so they weren't just running in circles for days on end. He could see where the trail might start, matching the description of the first clue to that of the second clue. The drawing of the serpent from the diary seemed to fit right into place along the line which Riley assumed was the Colorado River. His best hunch on where to start first was marked on the snake with a small white diamond, which if this was correct, was positioned on the Colorado River just east of Grand Junction, beneath the shadows of the Grand Mesa. They would be landing in Grand Junction within the next hour.

_The serpent of fire shows the way, westward leading in the light of day_

_Eyes with no sight can see with no light, unhindered only by the Lord's own might_

To Be Continued

Coming Soon

Chapter 14: The Sword and the Stone


	14. The Sword and The Stone

National Treasure

Into The West

Chapter 14: The Sword and the Stone

The plane came to a rather rough halt at the far end of the tarmac of Walker Field airport, the morning sun still low in the sky. Patrick looked ahead of him to find the operator he'd been speaking with over the radio who had guided him into the airfield. He spotted two men coming towards them on a small vehicle, which looked as though it was for towing airplanes back and forth between the tarmac and the pole sheds which lined the edge of the field. Patrick waved to the driver, who waved in return.

"Good Morning, Mr. Kingswood!" The man greeted loudly as Patrick opened his door. "Welcome to Colorado!"

"Thank You, Thank You." Patrick said as he stepped down to the ground. On the other side, the other attendant rushed over to help Emily down to the ground.

"Here, let me give you a hand, Mrs. Kingswood."

"Thank you, sir." Emily said as the man helped her to the ground. Next to him, Riley leapt from the plane door to the ground, keys in hand to unlock the cargo compartment underneath the tail of the plane.

"So, did you enjoy the flight, Sweetpea?" Patrick asked to Abigail in a fatherly manner.

"Yeah, Dad." Abigail responded, pulling her knapsack from the plane after clambering down to the ground. "Davis, do you need a hand?"

"No thanks, Sis. I've got it." Riley called from behind the plane, pulling four large packs from the cargo hold. They both looked over nervously as Patrick handed the field manager his license and paperwork for the plane.

"My, My. All the way from Cincinnati?" He exclaimed surprisingly. "That's quite the distance."

"It's worth it to have the family together." Patrick said with a smile, putting his arm around Emily as she stepped to his side.

"Oh, yes." The field manager said, snapping his fingers in a recollective tone. "Your son called and said he'd be picking all of you up in the parking lot."

"Great, I can't wait to see him." Emily said. "It's been a while since we've seen him."

"Yes, he mentioned that." The manager said, signing off on the papers and putting them into a folder he had. "Do you need any help?"

"We got it from here." Patrick replied as they each picked up their packs, distinguishable by the nametags that had been sewn onto them. As Riley tried to pick his up, his arm strained under the weight. Abigail rushed to help him before the two managers noticed. "Thanks, Jen." Riley breathed, panting under the weight of the pack.

"No problem." She said, gently slapping him on the shoulder. "Wait a minute, did they just say I called Patrick?"

"No, Davis." Patrick responded, watching the field manager tow the plane across the field towards one of the hangers. "That was your brother."

"_What Brother_?" Riley whispered to Abigail. Abigail looked to make sure nobody was around before telling him.

"Special Agent Tyler Androsky." Abigail responded, picking up her own pack. "He's a Security agent from Providence, Sadusky assigned him to come along."

"Mom! Dad!" A man yelled from across the parking lot. Patrick and Emily looked to see a black SUV with Oregon license plates crossing the parking lot before coming to a stop in front of them. The driver's side door opened and a man climbed out. He was a bit taller than Riley, with a firm build and short black hair, also just like riley's newly acquired haircut.

"Hey, Jack!" Patrick exclaimed, giving the man a great big hug. Emily scrambled up behind Patrick and as soon as he was out of the way, she excitedly gave him a really tight hug.

"Hey, Sweetheart." She said as she wrapped her arms around his shoulder.

"Hey, Mom." He replied, returning the hug. Tyler looked over to his two siblings, standing awkwardly nearby.

"Jenny?" He asked humorously. "Wow, I like the new hair."

"Thanks." She replied with a smile as the two hugged. His attention turned to Riley.

"Hey, little brother!" He exclaimed, slapping Riley roughly on the shoulder. "How've you been?"

"I've been alright." Riley replied nervously as he hugged his new brother.

"So, shall we head off?"

"Yeah."

"Sure."

"Alright." Were some of the responses as the five Kingswoods loaded their things into the truck. Tyler slammed the back door shut as everybody climbed in. Patrick sat in the front passenger seat, While Abigail and Riley climbed into the back, Emily in between them. As soon as he closed the door, he turned to his passengers, speaking in a different tone of voice.

"Now for formal introductions." He said in a lower voice. "I'm Tyler Androsky."

"Yes, Agent Sadusky told us you'd be meeting us here." Patrick replied. "I'm Patrick Gates, and that's my wife, Emily."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." Tyler responded, Shaking Patrick's hand, and then Emily's. While they were waiting at the stop sign for traffic to clear up, Tyler turned around quickly.

"Dr. Abigail Chase, I'm presuming?"

"Correct." Abigail said, shaking his hand.

"And Mr. Riley Poole?"

"That's Me." Riley responded, shaking his hand.

"Yeah, sorry if I hit you kind of hard." Tyler apologized. "I must say it was a brave thing you did, taking a bullet like that."

Riley nodded, cracking a smile.

"Now, what's this Sadusky told me about a treasure map you guys found?"

* * *

The newly formed family unit pulled into the local McDonalds for some cheeseburgers before heading to the east, looking for the location on the river to start looking. Tyler informed them that the best place to start would be would be at a boat landing just outside the village of Molina. Abigail stared up at the majestic silhouette of the Grand Mesa as they drove out of Grand Junction.

"_The Endless Wall."_ Abigail stated. Her thoughts switched to Ben as she stared at the rugged wall of stone they drove alongside through the countryside. From the hush of silence which drew over everybody, Tyler could tell what was going on. Sadusky had informed him under terms of strictest secrecy of their situation, and the grim predicament that the famed and recently presumed-to-be late Ben Gates was now in.

"I can't imagine what you're going through sir." Tyler said nervously to Patrick, who looked back at the young agent, pausing for a few moments.

"Do you have kids?" He asked.

"Five." Tyler responded. "I've got a daughter in college, three teenage sons, and a little girl just starting second grade this fall."

"My, that's quite the crew." Emily remarked.

"It's a lot." Tyler said. "My wife somehow manages to keep them all in line without going insane."

Patrick nodded, thinking of the troubles he and Emily had gone through when Ben was growing up. He often wondered that it may have been because of that, Ben had grown up not being able to maintain many relationships. Aside from Riley, he hadn't had too many friends in High School or College. Abigail was the first woman Ben had been with who hadn't run screaming from him as if she was on fire after three days.

After about an hour, Tyler pulled into the boat landing, secluded in the shade of some large oak trees.

"There she is." Tyler remarked. "The Colorado River."

"Um, I don't mean to be a nitpick," Riley stated slowly and nervously. "But we don't have a boat."

"The raft's in the back." Tyler said, pointing towards the back of the truck. "It just needs to be inflated, won't take too long."

While Tyler and Riley got the raft inflated, reverting back to their aliases outside the truck, Abigail stood on the edge of the river. With the map in hand, concealed within her sketchbook, she repeated in her head the second clue. She'd seen the drawing of the snake and how it fit over the river on the map. The black serpent appeared to have a bunch of white speckles all over it, the most well defined of which appeared under magnification as a clearly defined Diamond-shaped object. She could see it had been drawn to look like a diamond, as it spanned nearly the full width of the serpent.

_The serpent of fire shows the way, westward leading in the light of day_

_Eyes with no sight can see with no light, only hindered by the Lord's own might_

"That could mean just about anything."

"Jenny?" A woman's voice asked from behind her. "What are you looking at?"

"Oh, just the map, Mom." She responded. "I just can't seem to figure this out."

"Here, let me look." Emily said, Abigail holding it off to her side so Emily could see.

"The serpent of fire shows the way, westward leading in the light of day." Emily stated. "That of course refers to the river itself."

"How can we be sure that it's the Colorado?"

"When did the legend say that Merez and his men first came into these mountains?"

"Sometime in the 1620's."

"It would have been about eighty years prior to their arrival when Coronado's expedition took them through the southwest searching for _you know what_."

Abigail smirked at the comment, knowing of his wishes to find Cibola.

"One of his men, Melchior Diaz, named this river _Rio del Tizon_," Emily stated. "The River of Embers."

Abigail nodded, remembering hearing Ben talk about that once. "Now for the second part of the riddle."

"Eyes with no sight can see with no light, only hindered by the Lord's own might." Emily stated, staring into the murky waters of the river as she thought.

"What has eyes but cannot see?" She asked Emily.

Suddenly, it came to her. She realized an idea when she looked at the drawing from the diary. _The Drawing_.

"A Drawing!" Abigail exclaimed in a whisper. "It could be a marking of some sort."

"Very good, darling!" Emily said with a smile. Emily did understand that right away, thinking of all the glyphs she'd seen in her life.

"Now, what do you think it's on?" Abigail asked.

"Well, let's see." Emily stated silently. "What is in a river that would take God himself to move?"

Both Abigail and Emily were looking into the riverbed when they noticed the multitude of light gray and brown stones scattered along the sandy riverbed.

"Perhaps it's a rock we're looking for." Abigail said. However, when she glanced around at the massive amount of rocks in various shapes and sizes scattered throughout the river. "I think this might take a while."

"Not necessarily." Emily stated. "Look at the riddle. It's stating something it would take God himself to move. Perhaps it means a rock _only_ God could move."

Abigail had never thought of that idea. Although there were a lot of rocks, not too many of them were big enough to prevent being moved by a few people or a bulldozer. They were looking for a rather large rock.

"Do you think that marking on the serpent might indicate where it is?" Emily asked.

"I think so." Abigail responded. "I'm thinking of another idea I had."

"Well, let's hear it."

"What is an object in a river which looks like a diamond from above."

"Of course." Emily stated, looking to the ground in a daze in her own thoughts. "A river with the momentum to carve something like the Grand Canyon can be capable of carving a multitude of things into the landscape."

"Boys!" Emily called, turning to see them walking towards the river with the raft in their hands. They were surprised to see Riley and Tyler now wearing matching brown leather cowboy hats.

"I picked these up at a thrift shop a few years back." Tyler said, referring to the hats. "We've got a large collection of trinkets and pieces of clothing for undercover operations."

"We may have found the location of the next clue." Abigail whispered as her two brothers approached her. "It's somewhere down the river."

"Jack, I know you've been here with your friends." Emily said, paraphrasing the story to cover the question. "We're looking for the northernmost point of the river North of the Grand Mesa."

"That, I believe, would be just down the river," Tyler stated. "Near Fleming point."

Riley and Tyler set the raft on the ground near the water's edge. As they loaded everybody's gear into the center to act as a counterweight, Patrick returned from Tyler's truck with five lifejackets in hand. They were all black with yellow reflective bands on the edges of the shoulder straps. They each put on their lifejackets before looking towards the raft.

"Any of you been river rafting before?" Tyler whispered.

"Nope."

"Never."

"I haven't."

"Nada."

"Alright then." Tyler responded, explaining how things would work. "Dad, you'll be up front." Patrick nodded and stepped to his seat at the pointed front of the raft, oar in hand.

"Mom and Jenny, you'll be in the center." Both women nodded, taking their seats.

"Dave, we'll be in the stern."

"The what?"

"The back."

"Oh, alright." Riley responded, cussing silently over his lack of nautical expertise. Tyler tossed the other two oars into the back while he and Riley, their jeans rolled up and boots replaced with water sneakers, pushed the raft off the shore before they both climbed in. Taking their oars in hand, they both piloted the boat towards the main current of the river, with Patrick's help. Tyler put some sunglasses on as the bright sunlight reflecting off the water was enough to blind a person. "Hey, Dave, I've got a few extra-" He began to tell Riley about an extra pair of sunglasses he had, but stopped when he saw Riley's wire-framed glasses, replaced by his old plastic framed ones, had faded magically to a darker shade.

"Transitions." Tyler stated. "Nice."

"Thanks." Riley responded as the two of them turned the raft into the current. The raft gave a quick jolt as they were swept into the rather swift current.

"Wait, what about your truck?" Emily asked.

"Robert's going to stop by in a little while to pick it up."

Emily stared in confusion for a moment.

"_Your nephew, a.k.a. another agent_."

"Oh."

Abigail watched the shoreline, making note of how fast they were going. "It looks like we must be going about ten miles per hour."

"Thirteen to be exact."

"Yikes." Riley stated bluntly.

"Davis, knock it off." Abigail snapped. "He's a bit superstitious."

* * *

Before long, the river led them into a deep rocky gorge, with the Grand Mesa appearing in the distance. Patrick looked sharply ahead of them for the fork in the river, suggesting an island in the river. Meanwhile, Abigail showed Tyler the map and the diary pages, telling him the story of Merez and his men, of James Hughes and his three daughters, and the legend of Sophie's Treasure.

"Wow." Tyler stated after Emily informed her of Sophie's fate. "That's a shame."

"She was barely eighteen when she died." Emily said. "They say she was probably buried in a charity grave somewhere, which was why there was no record of her burial.

Tyler blinked wildly in shock as he'd heard of the terrible experience, even more shocked that a girl that young had gone through it-alone.

"I can see why Ben was so eager to find it."

Emily nodded slowly, her head down. Abigail put her hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, don't be sorry." Emily said, clearing her eyes with her hands. "This is what he wants me to do. I'm doing it. I don't mind talking about it."

Tyler nodded in understanding, knowing they had taken Ben's request as if it was his dying wish.

"From what I've heard about Ben, I think he wants to find this treasure to honor Sophie's memory." Tyler said, looking at Emily. "That's a very honorable action to make."

"I know." Emily said.

"Dead Ahead!" Patrick suddenly exclaimed, pointing to a parting of the current dead ahead of them. Tyler and Riley used the oars to slow the boat as best they could, trying to look for a place to tie up, hopefully in seclusion in case somebody was watching. They finally found a large tree with long branches hanging out over the water, hiding a shallow pool of calm water which surrounded the trees exposed roots. They struggled to drift into the pool, narrowly getting in before the raft would have smacked against the rocks the tree hid beneath it's branches. The second that the boat hit the ground, they all piled out and took off their lifejackets.

"We'd better split up." Abigail said, taking her sketchpad in hand. "We can cover more ground that way."

"I agree." Riley added, standing next to her.

"Alright." Tyler responded. "I'll stick with Mom and Dad, you two cover the north, we'll cover the south."

"Be back in twenty minutes, you two!" Patrick hissed as they took off.

"So, what are we looking for?" Riley asked, peering across the rocky flats of the Island. Abigail stood on a nearby rock and looked around.

"A large Rock." She responded. "Large enough so that it would be impossible to move."

Abigail continued to storm through the branches of the numerous trees that populated the Island. There were large flat rocks stretching across the landscape, almost like as if the island had armor plating.

"This was all underwater recently." Riley noted, pointing out the small pools of water which had collected in the small cracks and crevasse in the rocks.

"Every time it rains the water levels of the river rise." Abigail said. "Because the river is so narrow, it must rise ten or fifteen feet in some areas, at least."

"Jen!" Riley snapped quickly, pointing towards something through the trees. He pulled Abigail closer to him so she could see what he was pointing at. There, through the trees was a large rounded slab-like rock projecting about twenty forty feet from the ground. It was tilted at an angle, just tall enough to stand out from the rest of the landscape, but not tall enough for the rounded top to protrude through the treetops. As they slowly approached it, they seemed to notice that there was a ring around the base of it, indicating the height to which the water rose to on a regular basis during the rainy months. She reached into her vest pocket and pulled out Ben's watch to check the time. It had only been four minutes since they'd left Patrick and Emily with Tyler.

"If there is a clue, then it should be on the western face of this rock." Abigail stated as they quickly walked around to the other side, finding the flat face of what had once been apparently either the top or bottom of a horizontal slab.

"There's nothing there." Riley stated. "It's flat."

Abigail's heart began sinking into her stomach as she brushed her hand across the surface of the rock. It had to be here, but where? When she took her hand away, she noticed that the rock had a rather dusty surface.

"Wait a minute." She Whispered, raising her hand to the rock again. She swept her hand back and forth across it several times in different spots she could reach. "The Water!" She whispered again, thinking back to the river's waters, so thick with sediment that they could barely see the bottom in only three or four feet of water. Her eyes quickly began to bounce around as she looked for some water. Behind her she saw a large pool in a crevice. She looked and saw the water was clear, the sediment settling in a thin layer along the bottom.

"Davis!" She said quickly. "If it's there, it might be under the sediment." She said, pulling a small water bottle from her pocket and filling it with water. She quickly ran back to the rock and squirted the water all over the face beneath the water line. "Let's start rubbing."

"Cool." Riley responded. "Is a genie going to come out and grant us three wishes?"

Abigail smirked at his response as they both began ribbing the coarse rock with their hands. The sediment began to come off, dripping to the ground and revealing the rock's true smooth surface. Abigail ran back and forth, filling it up with water and spraying down the rock to clear away the sediment.

"Wait, stop!" Riley exclaimed, stopping his finger in one spot. "There's something here." Abigail stepped forward and gently sprayed the area around Riley's hand as he rubbed his fingertips into the stone. Before long, a well defined groove appeared in the rock. They both smiled over their find, Abigail ran to grab more water and Riley kept rubbing. After about nine bottles of water and at least fifteen minutes of rubbing, it was clear. Before them on the rock, was a carving into the stone of a serpent.

"Just like in the diary." Riley noted.

"Except for one thing." Abigail added, pointing towards the slightly larger head of the serpent, now at the opposite end to the one in the book. This snake also had two clearly defined eyes, looking due west, towards the direction the Colorado River was flowing in. "The drawing in the diary led us to the river, then to the marking which will show us the direction."

The two of them were about to exchange a high-five before Abigail saw something rather funny looking on the rock's surface.

"Look." She pointed out to Riley an unclear recess in the rock. "Is it just me or does that look a little odd."

Abigail sprayed the spot with water and Riley dug at it with his fingernails. He could automatically tell it was softer. "There's something else here!"

The two of them continued to chip away at the thick layer of sediment, which before long revealed a square hole roughly cut into the rock. As Abigail sprayed it with more water, Riley soon began to pull handfuls of small stones out of the hole, which he let drop at his feet.

"Jen."

"Yeah?"

"There's something in here." Riley stated, his fingers feeling a foreign object lodged in the hole. He held his breath as he slowly pulled it out, catching it in his hand as it was released from it's mud filled prison. Abigail stood motionless for a few moments, stunned at what she was seeing. In Riley's hand was a small wooden box, about eight inches long and two inches wide, with a four inch rise. It had been wrapped in what looked like an old leather cloth, which was still intact. Abigail quickly sprayed her hands with the water bottle to clean her hands off and drying them with her shirt before gently taking the box in her hands. "_My God_" She gasped.

The box had been apparently hand carved, with rounded corners and ornate carvings of a large tree, the branches winding their way gracefully about the cover.

"Wait," Abigail stated, focusing on the side of the box. "There's writing here."

"What does it say?"

"I can't tell, it's-" She began to explain, but was interrupted by a finding which left her baffled.

"This is…" She stammered in a confused state. "This is in _Dutch._"

Riley's eyes widened at her remark. "What?" He remarked, with the same confused tone. As Abigail examined the scripture, she suddenly heard something in side the box shift around.

"There's something inside it." Abigail noted as she slowly unfastened the metal clip holding the box closed. When she opened it, it was as if somebody had knocked the wind clear out of her. She gazed down into the interior of the box. This was it, this was the next step towards the treasure.

"What's in-_Holy Mary, Mother of God_." Riley stammered, peering into the box. Abigail pulled a Kleenex from her pocket and slowly crouched to the ground, where she laid the box on the ground. She reached into the box's base and slowly picked up a metal dagger. It was obviously very old, patches of rust dotted the metal body and the blade. This blade shined brightly in the sunlight, as Abigail and riley looked upon this artifact they found. It was a sign of hope for them, for Sophie, for Ben.

The handle of the Knife was made almost entirely of solid gold.

To Be Continued

Coming Soon

Chapter 15: The Untold Story


	15. The Untold Story

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 15: The Untold Story

One week had passed since the hunt for Sophie's Treasure had started, and Ben had been thrust through a rollercoaster of battles both in his mind and with Ian and his men. Since he'd cooperated better with the hunt, Ben had been transferred from being chained up inside the crate to being chained to the inner wall of the van every night. They stopped sedating him, and a guard sat up watching him all night. It wasn't the greatest improvement for him, but it was an improvement for the treasure. He was keeping it safe; that was his top priority.

Through the window of the van, Ben could see the moonlight shining on the waters of the river, which he'd been told was the Gunnison River. They were about ten miles south of Grand Junction, where Ben estimated they would find the next "clue". There were still six clues left, and he was still trying to come up with things to fill them in with, before Ian and his men grew suspicious. That night, with the lamp by his side, Ben had been looking at the next two clues. His movement had been tightly restricted; his feet and hands were shackled to long chains bolted to the wall, and two more chains were wrapped around his waist and bolted to the wall behind him. He was exhausted, but he didn't go to sleep. That night he had to formulate the next two clues to keep them moving, to buy more time. He read the third clue silently to himself, from the copy of the diary page Ian had left with him.

_The serpent guards the key in it's firesome flow,  
__By the craftsman's hand, the true treasure shows.  
__The tides of time shifted the ways of the world,  
__Ascending from obscurity, the course of history had been curled. _

From that alone, Ben knew the third clue led to the key to the treasure. Whether it meant an actual physical key or just led to another clue he wasn't sure. _The serpent guards the key_, that told him the key was somewhere in the river, or close by. It could have been something hidden by the Spaniards along their journey to find the hiding place for the treasure, or it could be a natural landmark such as a tree or a rock or something. From _By the craftsman's hand, the true treasure shows_, he knew that it had to be something that had been impacted or altered by human hands, which from that time period must not be too easy to find. The last two passages seemed to correlate together, like his thoughts on history that had passed through his mind that day beneath the waterfall. From the two of them combined he could tell that whoever had created this object was responsible for a rather large form of change in the history of this land, someone who had stepped from obscurity and made a lasting impact on the world. Ben quickly took the page with the drawings and looked at the second drawing. It looked like an inverted handprint. This confirmed his theory that the key had to be something manmade, and it was also by this that he noticed there was a pattern in the drawings, something he hadn't noticed before. They weren't just random drawings; they were all symbols drawn from the same language. He knew what language it was, but when he thought of it, his heart froze as he glanced casually at the guard keeping his eyes on him. Many of the men Ian had hired were from the area and may recognize the symbols, thwarting his plans. If Ian found out about his plan too soon, he was dead for sure. To make matters worse, he would have gone after someone else who did know these symbols, such as his mother. He couldn't let that happen – he wouldn't.

He tried desperately to clear his mind, focusing on the next clue. This one was different from the first three, _very different_.

_The Secret Lies in the Valley of the Four Winds_

_Where their paths cross is where the trail begins._

This passage was accompanied by not one, but _two _drawings. Ben looked at them for a great deal of time, trying to understand their meaning. The first of the two struck Ben as being rather familiar, while the other drawing showed an eagle perched atop a triangular shaped object, like a mountain or something. It didn't make much sense to Ben in terms of finding the real treasure, but fortunately for him he could make enough sense of it to _not_ find the treasure.

* * *

The gentle sounds of the waters of the river didn't seem to help Riley's desperate battle to stay awake, as he and his four fellow campers sat around a small campfire. Since finding the golden knife embedded in the river stone, the group had moved further downstream, past Grand Junction, to within only a few miles of the Utah border. They set up camp near the riverside, secluded in a tight ring of trees and bushes. The starry night and the half moon brilliantly illuminated the mountainous landscape. The sight of the starry sky brought vivid memories back to Riley of his lost friend, the friend who had led him into his interest in history to begin with on a night just like that one.

Riley could remember those warm summer evenings in the outskirts of Washington DC. After spending seven years in various foster homes and being bounced around up and down the Atlantic coast, he was glad to find a place where he fit in with a family. He remembered the first time Ben had pointed out history in the stars. It had been the first Saturday night after Riley completed his sophomore year of High School in Bethesda, while Ben was a Junior in college in nearby Germantown. They would both climb onto the roof of Patrick's old colonial house, where Ben showed him the constellations of some of history's greatest founders. He would do it by selecting a constellation and refer it to a historical event. The first one he'd told Riley was of the Big Dipper, and how it has quenched the thirst for freedom of many slaves in the days before the Civil War. Ben told him how it was like their own personal version of the North Star, how escaped slaves would form groups and travel by night to the north, following the Big Dipper. He told of how it would lead the refugees to just the right wooded areas and abandoned barns and farmhouses where they could rest during the day before continuing their nighttime pilgrimage to the promised land, which many of them eventually found in either the free states of the north or in Canada. Somehow, Ben had figured out just the right story to tell Riley to get those gears in his head moving. It was the aspect of chasing freedom which Riley understood all too well. He'd run away from at least half of the foster homes he'd been sent to, basically because nobody seemed to accept him as he was or understand who he was. He'd be teased and bullied, labeled as a geek, things which pushed him to draw inwards so far to the point whereas he was ready to end all of it right there. He'd started using drugs when Ben first found him lying unconscious on the ledge of a loading dock behind a Wal-Mart. He'd brought him home to his Dad, who helped him clean up his act and catch up in school. Freedom had been something he'd been robbed of long too soon, and it was Ben who'd helped him find his way back. Even almost three decades later, Riley was still convinced that Ben had saved his life. While he laid on his back, looking up at the stars, he wondered if Ben could see him. "Davey, come here!" Abigail exclaimed, snapping him out of his gaze at the stars. He sat up to see Abigail holding the knife they'd found up to the campfire light, Emily looking on. "We found something!"

"Do tell, sister." Riley responded, scooting over towards the two women. The knife was in a surprisingly good state of condition considering it was lodged inside that hole in the stone for almost 400 years. Abigail had to hold it low, as the gold sparkled in the light. Tyler was on patrol at a tree near the edge of a campsite, his gun looped through his belt. He nodded at them to keep researching, letting them know things were clear.

Abigail turned her focus to a small symbol on the blade of the knife. She'd come across what looked like a large "V" with the letters "O" and "C" intersecting it on either side.

"What's that?" Riley asked.

"It's the insignia for the Dutch East India Company." Emily told him.

"Correct." Abigail added. "_Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie_, V, O, C."

"What does that mean?" Patrick asked.

"United East India Company." Abigail responded. "According to the third clue, it's the key to the treasure."

Abigail quickly took to the page with the solved ciphers on it. "By the craftsman's hand, the true treasure shows."

"May I?" Emily asked, holding out her hands. Abigail carefully handed the knife to Emily, who held it to the light to examine the edges of the blade. "There look to be very distinct grooves in the blade of this knife, so this might be the key to unlocking a mechanism or something."

"That's actually quite clever, I must admit." Riley noted, watching as Emily examined the knife.

"The last line of the clue perfectly describes the Dutch East India Company." Abigail said, thinking back to when she'd learned about the famed company in school when she lived in Germany. "Prior to this in history, the Dutch hadn't had too much of a strong footing when it came to power in the world, and the East India Company changed all that."

Emily recollected back to the trip that she and Patrick took to Amsterdam, before Ben was born. They'd dragged each other through almost every shop in the city, and had a fun time doing it. She also realized that this was the first big adventure the two of them had been on since they'd remarried. Aside from a few day trips to New York, they'd been so busy getting resettled in Philadelphia and everything. She glanced over at Patrick with a weak smile, and it was at that moment that she realized one of the biggest clues to the treasure had been in front of their eyes this whole time. She was looking at the diary pages on Abigail's lap, which were opened to the drawings that had been found in the diary.

"Jenny, may I see that for a moment?" Emily stammered excitedly.

"What, the Knife?" Abigail responded, handing her the knife.

"No, the diary pages."

"Oh, of course." Abigail said, handing Emily the pages while she and Riley continued to stare at the markings on the knife. Emily took them in hand and carefully scanned her eyes over each of the eight drawings.

"What are you looking at, sweetheart?" Patrick asked, looking over Emily's shoulder.

"Tell me something," Emily asked, glancing up at Patrick. "Does this first symbol look at all familiar to you?"

Patrick looked at the drawing of the serpent, and after a moment his eyes widened slightly as he remembered what it was.

"That's not a serpent at all!" He exclaimed. "It's Avanyu, the skysnake!"

"Exactly." Emily noted. "Conjurer of storms and massive natural changes, which was why it was drawn to represent the river!"

Abigail and Riley peered over at the two of them curiously, as did Tyler. "What are you talking about?" Riley asked.

"Come here, quickly!" Emily hissed as she and Patrick went over each of the symbols. "These symbols are Native American, I can't believe I didn't notice them earlier."

"Really?" Abigail asked, looking at the drawings with the new perspective. After a few moments, she was beginning to recognize some of the symbols.

"Do you know what they're from?" Riley asked as Emily put her glasses on to get a better look at the drawings.

"I can tell they are definitely Athabaskan in origin." Emily stated silently, glancing over at Tyler. "Probably Navajo."

Patrick gasped. "That must be it!" He exclaimed. "Merez and his men must have made alliances with some of the Navajo Indian tribes from this area."

"Can we really be sure of that?" Abigail asked.

"It would explain how Merez and his men found the starting location for the trail to the treasure, because most of the Spanish explorers didn't come this far north."

"Exactly!" Riley said, snapping his fingers. "Do you remember what Ben said about how the first European settlers didn't arrive in this area until around the time of the Revolution?"

Abigail gasped as she remembered Ben saying that. It was coming together, piece by piece. She reached in her pocket and pulled out two things; the red box with the ring and Ben's watch.

_I'm almost there, Ben. Just hold on, I'm almost there._

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 16: The Legend of the Wolf Girl


	16. The Legend of The Wolf Girl

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 16: The Legend of the Wolf Girl

"We're getting closer, Ian." Ben said, holding his hands together with his elbows resting on top of the crate. "This will just take more time."

"It's been nine days, Gates." Ian said impatiently with an irritated tone. "That's almost five times the time span that it took to find the Templar's Treasure."

"After my family had spent years and years hunting for the other clues." Ben answered back, resting his chin on his hands and drawing the chains binding his wrists onto the top of the crate. "The third and fourth clues combined led us to the Black Canyon, which in itself points towards what I'm guessing will be either the next clue or even the treasure itself."

Ian released a sigh of despair and ran his fingers through his hair. He knew it wouldn't be too long before the people he'd paid to help get him out of prison would start badgering for the money he owed them, which he had spent almost all of on hiring men and kidnapping Gates. If he didn't find the treasure soon, he'd probably find himself facing prison for the rest of his life. He sat in silence for a long time, glaring angrily at Ben.

"My patience is really wearing thin with you, Gates." Ian said in a low voice, his face turning red.

"Ian, you should know very well by now that Impatience and Treasure Hunting don't mix." Ben remarked, looking forward at Ian with a serious face. "The only results of the two mixing are causing trouble and people getting hurt." Ian's nostrils flared as his anger intensified, which led to his hand flying into the pocket of his jacket and pulling out his gun, pointing it at Ben.

"Shut up, Gates." Ian snapped loudly. "Shut up right now."

Ben calmly drew his moth shut as Ian stood up and loomed over him, giving him the sinister look which he knew very well meant trouble.

"Must I remind you of who holds the cards right now?" Ian sneered, still pointing the gun at Ben. "I've got access to almost every point of the underworld of this continent, people who could commit the most heinous crime in broad daylight without anybody even noticing their shadows." Ben stared up at Ian with a motionless face as Ian put the gun's mouth closer and closer until it eventually touched the surface of Ben's forehead.

"You have approximately twenty-four hours to lead us to this treasure." Ian stated, pressing the gun harder into Ben's forehead, forcing Ben back against the wall of the van. "If I don't see this treasure by this time tomorrow, I will have every person that is even remotely close to you hunted down and killed like rats." Ben's breath grew slightly labored as Ian let four cartridges fall from his gun.

"The lovely and witted Dr. Abigail Chase, the clever and ambitious Riley Poole, sweet and sensible Emily Appleton, and the honorable Patrick Gates." Ian said, dropping a bullet onto the crate for each name mentioned. Each drop to Ben was like they were being fired directly into his chest, as he could almost feel the jolt of each bullet sending a pulse sweeping through his body. He used every ounce of strength he could muster to hide it, for he knew once Ian got the smallest hint of fear in his enemies, that was the end.

"Also, Ben," Ian continued. "I will make damn sure that in one form or another, you _WILL_ witness each and every one of their deaths." He said, slowly picking the bullets up from the top of the crate. "Their lives are in your hands, Ben. If you fail, you might as well be killing them yourself."

Ben watched calmly and motionlessly as Ian stood up and clambered through the passenger side door, exiting the van. Once Ian was gone, Ben shuddered slightly as he rested his head back against the wall of the van. He slowly let his eyes close and he slipped into a world of darkness. The quiet clanging of those bullets landing on the crate rang in his ears like full-fledged gunshots in his ears. He breathed heavily, inhaling and exhaling, inhaling and exhaling, trying to absorb the reality of the situation. How could this have happened? Was he really so dense that he walked blindly into this whole mess without thinking of what damage could come from it? Although he didn't want to admit it, it did seem typical of his character. Although they had gone along with him willingly, with the exception of his mother during the search for Cibola, he'd selfishly put his own wishes and dreams over the well being of people he cared dearly for. His parents had barely been remarried for a full year, and now they had to deal with this same situation – _again_. He'd witnessed Patrick pushed within inches of his own life many times over the past few years, and now he'd seen Emily put in the same position. They'd both been kidnapped because of the trouble he himself had gotten into, and now he only could hope that wherever they were, they were together. His thoughts then switched to Riley, recollecting back to the kid who went from being a runaway drug addict to skipping four grades in High School and graduating at the top of his class. Ben could picture Riley doing great things in his lifetime, a professor at a University, a famous researcher, perhaps with his own TV show, or even as a Nobel prize winner. Riley had almost died because of this treasure hunt. When he first heard that Riley had been shot, Ben could actually see it in his head, the sight of his best friend being laid to rest beside his parents in a New Jersey cemetery, beneath the tall maple trees. When his thoughts switched to Abigail, they were almost too painful to face. The thought of anything happening to her brought tears to his eyes, stinging like white-hot needles. As one tear rolled down the side of his face, Ben noticed a small shard of broken glass on the floor nearby. He glanced out the window, making sure nobody was watching, then he glanced over to the front seats, hoping nobody was there. When he saw the sight was clear, he reached gently for the shard, trying not to rattle the chains on his wrists. He picked it up carefully, returning to where he'd sat before. He held up his right hand, and with the shard in his left hand, he gently cut a long line running diagonally down his palm, a thin stream of blood marking the shard's path. Biting his lip, he then cut a second line, shorter and running perpendicular to the first one, forming the holy cross on his palm. He'd never been too religious, but he knew God was on his side.

"_God, if you can hear me, than please look over them. Please look over my parents, and Riley, and Abigail. Please keep them safe. They're in your hands now. Amen."_

He pressed his palm flatly into his chest, just long enough for an imprint of the cross to appear in his shirt, while bowing his head in prayer. It didn't stand out too well against the dull dark green t-shirt he'd been given to wear, but it stood out just enough for him to know it was there, telling him that they weren't alone, that he wasn't alone. He needed to strengthen his faith, as he knew twenty-four hours weren't going to last forever. Time was running out for him, for Abigail, for Riley, for Patrick, for Emily, and for Sophie; _and fast._

* * *

"I Can't allow this!" Tyler snapped. "I won't have all four of you putting yourselves at that great of a risk."

"We don't have any other choice!" Abigail snapped back. "This is our last chance at finding the treasure, and possibly our only hope of seeing Ben again; dead, alive, or even at all!"

Tyler stepped backwards slightly, seeing the look of desperation in Abigail's eyes. He did believe that finding help from the Navajo could mean a great deal of difference in their search for the treasure, but it would mean all four of them risking exposing their true identities, and Tyler knew perfectly well that Ian Howe had contacts everywhere, and for all he knew they could have their eyes peeled for any sign of the four of them.

"How can we even know this will work?" Tyler asked inquisitively, crossing his arms.

"Dr. Samuels is a trusted colleague of mine, and he has never let me down in over forty years." Emily stated firmly, glaring at Tyler dead in the eyes. "He knows Ben and admires him greatly, and I'm positive he'd do anything to help him out in this sort of circumstance."

"Can you be sure that he would risk his own safety and the safety of his family?" Tyler asked.

"Of course not!" Emily exclaimed with frustration. "But he's our only hope now."

"Tyler, look at me." Patrick ordered loudly and sternly. Tyler looked up to see the kind of look from a father that people live in fear of. "As a father, think if one of your own children is in the predicament my son is in now. Wouldn't you do anything in your power to help them?"

Tyler hesitated. He didn't feel like he could answer that right away. Although every single word of training and schooling he'd gone through to become an FBI agent was screaming in his mind that this was a bad idea, he now found himself struggling desperately to fight off those voices. He reluctantly gave a sigh of surrender and nodded his head, agreeing to their plans.

"Where can we find him?"

* * *

Three hours would pass before the wooded, mountainous terrain of southwestern Colorado fully gave way to the sandy, rocky landscape of northern Arizona. After retrieving his SUV from their "cousin" and clearing the trip with Sadusky, the group set off for the small town of Kayenta, Arizona. Emily sat in the front seat, trading places with Patrick. With her address book in hand, she looked up the address of her dear friend Dr. Alan Samuels. She told Tyler of how they'd met in college, and how he dreamed of becoming a historian of Navajo History, a dream which he achieved. He now worked as a Professor of History for the Dine College System, teaching at four of their seven campuses. He was the one who had first told her of the legend of Sophie's Treasure, and wondered how he would react to the fact that the story was true.

"Do you remember which house it is?" Tyler asked after turning onto the street he was last known to have lived on.

"It's that one." Emily pointed out, spotting a soft yellow ranch near the corner of the last intersection on the street. Tyler pulled up in front of the house, pausing a moment before shutting off the engine.

"I need to remind you that this must be done with extreme caution." Tyler reminded them in a stern tone. When he contacted Sadusky to inform of their plan, Sadusky was originally against it, because of what had happened since Abigail, Riley, Patrick, and Emily had arrived out west. Carroll Manor was being guarded by undercover agents, who had reported suspicious activity in the area three times over the past week, all in the middle of the night. Abigail's office at the Museum had been broken into, as had been both the home and office of the editor of Riley's books. In Philadelphia, one of Patrick and Emily's neighbors had been awakened by the sound of breaking glass and was witness to someone trying to break into the Gates' home, which was also now under protection. Ian was looking for them.

Emily led the way up the red stone walkway to the front door, waiting for the others to catch up before she rung the doorbell. A few moments passed, which seemed like forever before the large wooden door opened slowly and a middle-aged man appeared in the doorway. He was tall, slim, with silver-gray hair and a light mustache. His eyes seemed to lose their color when he recognized who was at his doorstep.

"_Emily_." He said silently in a state of surprise at the sight of his colleague.

"Hello, Alan." Emily responded. "I need your help."

Alan stammered his answer to her. "Yes, please come in."

Abigail, Riley, Patrick and Tyler followed Emily through the front door, which Alan closed behind them. He led them into the front hallway of his home before silently wrapping his arms around Emily.

"It's good to see you, Al." Emily said, returning the friendly hug. Alan didn't respond right away.

"I'm so sorry about Ben." Alan whispered. Emily released her grip on her friend, turning to the others before turning back to Alan.

"Alan." Emily stated, bracing herself for his reaction. "Ben is still alive."

Alan stood in confusion for a few moments, his eyes growing narrow and his eyebrows shifting, giving him a puzzled expression.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Something has happened." Emily said. Alan blinked off his confused state.

"Please, would all of you like to sit down?" He asked, leading them into his living room, which contained two large sofas and an armchair, surrounded by shelves of artifacts and works of art he had collected during the years of research he'd done on his people. He grabbed a few cans of soda before returning back to the living room from his open kitchen. Patrick and Emily sat on one couch, while Abigail and Riley took the other. Alan sat down into his armchair, can of soda in hand. He looked over to Abigail, and he could recognize her face, even with her different hair style.

"You must be Abigail Chase." Alan said, recollecting seeing her face with Ben's in the newspaper following the discoveries of The Templar Treasure and Cibola.

"I am." Abigail said, confirming his guess. Alan then turned to Riley.

"And you must be Riley Poole." Alan said, turning his attention to the copies of all three of Riley's books sitting on the table in the center of the room. "I really enjoyed your books."

Riley cracked a smile. "Thanks."

"And who are you?" Alan asked, turning to Tyler. Tyler glanced at all the windows before reaching for his wallet.

"Tyler Androsky." He stated, opening his wallet to expose his ID card. "FBI."

Alan's eyes widened at the discovery of this other gentleman's identity, and as he looked at Emily, he could tell something was very wrong.

"Emily, what's happened?" He asked softly in a worried tone. "Is Ben in trouble?"

"I'm afraid he is." Abigail interrupted. "It's very serious."

Alan listened tentatively as Emily began to explain the situation. "Alan, do you recall hearing of a man named Ian Howe?"

"Of course." Alan said. "He was that criminal who kidnapped Patrick and tried to kill both him and Ben."

"He escaped from Prison back east." Tyler stated in a serious tone. "He's abducted Ben and is using him to search for a treasure he apparently uncovered."

Alan gasped at the news he'd just heard. He glanced over at a copy of the picture he had taken of himself with Ben on a visit to the Grand Canyon from when Ben was in Elementary School.

"What are they looking for?"

Emily took a silent, deep breath, trying to remain calm while inside she was a nervous wreck. "He's searching for Sophie's Treasure."

"What!" Alan exclaimed. "He's got Ben searching after that old folk tale?"

"Alan." Emily interrupted. "The Treasure exists."

"No, it doesn't." Alan claimed sternly. "People have been looking into that legend for decades, there's no proof to support that old fable."

"Now there is." Emily said. Alan paused in confusion. "They found her diary."

Alan's mouth hung slightly open as he stared back at Emily in disbelief. Abigail pulled her sketchpad out of her backpack and handed Alan the copies of the pages from the diary.

"This was mailed to our house approximately ten days ago." Abigail stated. "We found it contained a hidden Ottendorf Cipher which we solved to find eight clues leading to the location where Merez and his men first hid it."

Alan flipped through the pages, glancing over the diary entries and the solved Ottendorf Cipher. He paused when he came to the page with the drawings.

"We believe that some members of the Navajo Indians may have made alliances with Merez and his men, and assisted them in their quest to protect the treasure from the Spanish. We found that the first drawing of the Avanyu, when found to fit on the map, showed the starting point of the path to the treasure, which was on the Colorado River, just north of the Grand Mesa. It was there where we found the second drawing carved into a large rock on an island in the river." Abigail explained while Riley reached into his Bag and pulled out a small plastic bag containing the box they had found.

"Which was where we found this." Riley stated, holding the golden knife up so Alan could see it. Alan slumped back in his chair, stunned by what he'd been told. He thought of all the years of searching so many people had done to find this diary.

"How did you come to possess this diary?"

"Apparently, Ian found it buried in a root cellar of the former home of Sophie's sister Nellie. He mailed it under the Alias "Hughes" to make us think it was one of Sophie's family members, which is why Ben went to Colorado first to find them, which was where Ian caught him."

"I see." Alan said, nodding. He paused for a moment before thinking of someone who could help them. "I think you guys should meet Joe."

"Joe who?" Riley asked.

"Joe Salinas." Alan responded from the front seat of Tyler's SUV "I went to school with him, and I think he's somebody you should really meet."

"I'm guessing there's a story to him?" Patrick asked.

"There is." Alan responded. "He's been telling people since we were in Grade School, but everybody just laughed at him over it."

"About what?" Abigail asked.

"He's had a hard life. His mother died of a mysterious and terrible illness when we were young, and then his daughter died of the same thing a few years ago. He and his wife divorced several years ago because of his story, and now he's been raising his daughter's three children. His Grandson, Armando is sixteen, and he has two granddaughters; Anita is twelve and Josephine is seven. Rosa hadn't had the happiest life either. Her husband and the father of her children walked out on her for almost the same reason her mother had left her father for, and then she had to up and die on Joe. It was terrible for all of them."

"That's terrible." Abigail said in a low tone.

"Rosa was his daughter, right?"

"Riley!" Abigail snapped.

"Yes, Rosa was his daughter." Alan responded, looking back at Riley. "She was his whole world, especially after her mother left."

"What about this story of his?"

"I think you should hear it from him yourself." Alan said as he directed Tyler out into the Arizona countryside.

* * *

Their trip ended as the sun rose high in the sky as they found themselves at an old farmstead near the interstate. Abigail and Riley looked out the window of the truck at the large windmill they drove past, with the old rusted pump beneath it. They then looked upon the old trailer that was the home of the Salinas family. The truck came to a stop at the front step of the house, they saw a young man walking out of the nearby pole shed, wiping his greasy hands with a rag. They saw as he looked over and waved hello to Alan, who waved in return.

"Hey, Alan!" The boy shouted, jogging over towards the truck as Alan stepped out of the truck.

"Armando!" Alan yelled in return as the boy practically tackled Alan to the ground playfully. "How've you been?"

"I've almost gotten my car started!" Armando said eagerly. Judging from the smudges of oil and grease up and down his arms, he'd been working in the garage for a while.

"That's great!" Alan exclaimed as he helped himself to his feet. "Is your Grandfather home?"

Armando looked into the living room window of the trailer. "He's in there."

* * *

"You really found it?" Joe said with a weak smile. "You really found the diary?"

"Wes, we did." Abigail answered, handing the old man a photo of the diary she'd taken from home. "We don't have it anymore, but we did find the clues to a hidden treasure and we had all the pages copied."

Abigail handed Joe the pages of the diary. As he flipped through them, his eyes started to water and he trembled. Armando sat next to his grandfather, overlooking what his Grandfather was looking at.

"Sir?" Emily asked. "Are you alright."

"I'm fine." He said, clearing his throat. "I'm just so happy somebody found it."

"Well, there's a slight problem with that." Riley said. Joe looked at him with a softened look, as did Armando.

"Ben Gates was abducted by an escaped convict known as Ian Howe, who is forcing him to assist him and his men to find the Treasure Sophie was looking for."

Joe suddenly became very pale. He gently shook his head. "No, No!"

"Grandfather, calm yourself." Armando said, putting his arm around his grandfather. "How did this happen?" Armando asked.

"Ian was a man who had assisted us in finding the Templar Treasure in New York five years ago." Riley explained. "He turned against us when we found he wasn't after it's historical value like we were. He just wanted money."

"It's always money." Joe cursed silently. "It brings out the worst in people."

"Indeed, it does." Patrick stated.

"I am glad to see that is not true about all white people." Joe remarked with a weak smile. "I wish to help you find it."

Abigail nodded. "Alan told us that you had a family story which related to the treasure."

"Yes, I do."

_It was almost 150 years ago that it happened. My mother often told me the story. One day in the summer heat, when the winds were blowing hard, My Great Grandfather, Nastas, went into the mountains to the north to hunt. That is where they found Chakwaina, spirit of the Night. They heard her cries in the darkness and followed the sound to her river. She accepted them and blessed them, and they came to know her as The Wolf Girl, because her cries in the night were as the one of the wolf herself. She seduced Nastas, and was found to be with child when they next saw her some many moons later. They brought her back to the village, as Nastas wanted to make the Spirit his bride. When the council first saw her, they cried out in terror, claiming she would stain our blood. In her own fit of terror, she escaped to the desert. Nastas went in search of her, and many more moons would pass before he found her, crying in the night in a cave as she had begun to give birth to the child. Nastas helped her bring forth the child, and she presented him with a daughter, Nascha. Her cries continued into the night. When Nastas awoke with the following sun, he found Nascha in his arms, and Chakwaina was gone. He prayed to the spirits for her return as he raised the daughter of the Wolf Girl amongst the Navajo she would come to accept as her own. He watched her grow into a woman and have sons and daughters of her own, but Nastas was upset with the spirits who had taken her because they had stolen a child's mother. Chakwaina was never seen again. _

The entire room was silent.

"Wow." Riley stated.

"So, this Chakwaina would have been-" Emily started.

"My Grandmother." Joe said. "And his Great Great Grandmother."

"Ah." Emily said in understanding.

"Was there any reason to why as the village rejected her in such a way?" Patrick asked.

"According to what my mother told me, the village elders believed Chakwaina was searching for the sacred city. They believed she wanted to cast black magic on our people. Because of her cries at night, they believed she was cursed."

"What's so terrible about crying?" Riley asked. "I cry sometimes when I lose at online Blackjack, that doesn't mean I'm cursed." He leaned over to Abigail. "_Does it?"_

"Her cries were said to be that of a horrific demon. She would throw things and grind her teeth until her lips bled. At one point she almost threw herself into the fire."

Joe stood up from his seat on the sofa and shuffled over to the bookcase on the opposite end of the small room. He pulled out an old book with leather binding and returned to her seat.

"Nobody ever believed the stories of our family. At first I believe people denied it out of fear of the demon they believed had touched Chakwaina, but as time went on most people dismissed it as just a fairy tale, along with many other Navajo legends. I know it's true because of something my mother left me. In later years, a legend arose from the white people of a girl of their own going through the same thing, whom I believe was your girl. I believe that my Grandmother was seeking the same treasure this girl was looking for."

"What did your mother leave you?" Abigail asked.

"Concrete proof that the story of my Grandmother is true." Joe said, holding a small white piece of paper up from the book and handing it to Abigail. "A white man doing research of our people was there when my Grandfather brought her here from the mountains, and he took a picture of her. My mother told me to never show anyone unless I felt I absolutely had to. She told me I needed to wait for someone with the proper understanding of the story, which I believe you have."

Abigail took the picture in her hand, turned it over, and she felt a sudden jolt ripple through her body. She gasped sharply and loudly, her eyes widening and her hand clasped to her mouth.

"Oh God, Oh God, Oh God!"

"Abigail, what's wrong?" Emily asked.

"Is something wrong with the picture?" Joe asked.

Abigail took several moments, trying to catch her breath after the shock from what she'd seen. "Joe?"

"Yes?"

"Your Grandmother wasn't only after the same thing as Sophie. Your Grandmother _WAS_ Sophie!"

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 17: Rising


	17. Rising

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 17: Rising

Joe Salinas sat in a state of shock on his living room sofa with Emily, who was showing him the book she had which contained records of Sophie's unfortunate fate. He held the photo he'd had hidden away for many years of a young girl with his grandfather. She was tall, thin, with dark blonde hair braided into a ponytail behind her head and fairly light skin. Her clothes were worn and grungy, and in her eyes was something rather unusual. They were opened so wide that one could almost see her entire eyeball. She appeared to be in a state of restlessness, as if she was terrified of something. Other than her erratic facial expression, nothing else seemed wrong with her. As he held his own picture of his grandmother, he compared it shockingly to the picture in Emily's book, slowly absorbing the truth that without a shadow of a doubt, the spirit girl known to the Navajo tribe as Chakwaina was really the lost Sophie Hughes.

"Tell me about her." Jim said softly. "I want to more about her."

Emily cleared her throat before speaking, hoping that her words would help him.

"She was from Britain." Emily said, showing the first page of the diary entries. "She came to the United States from Wales with her father and two sisters."

"Hmm. Wales." Jim stated in a low voice, thinking about his newly discovered lineage. "So, we are Welsh?"

"Partially." Emily responded, holding up her finger. "That doesn't make you any less Navajo."

"True, it doesn't." Jim answered. "_Now_."

"What do you mean?"

"Em, do you recall ever hearing about the Long Walk of the Navajo?" Jim asked. "When we were first forced onto the reservation."

"Vaguely."

"This took place right in the middle of that terrible event." Jim said. "Many people were in such terrible ways for a long time following that. I now believe that my grandfather giving his heart to one of the whites may have angered the elders."

"Didn't they believe she was a spirit?"

"They believed she was _possessed _by and evil spirit which was leading her to the sacred city."

Emily looked up to Jim. "Sacred City?"

"It's one of our most mysterious legends." Jim told her. "A massive cultural and religious center rising from the desert from ages long ago. It was said that it was the first Navajo settlement in the desert, and is still known as the greatest."

"Whatever happened to make the people leave the city?" Emily asked.

"We didn't leave the city." Jim responded. "The city vanished."

"_Vanished_?"

"Yes, and our people have been looking for it ever since."

Emily looked at Jim in confusion, trying desperately to understand what had happened to this city. Jim understood her confused look and spoke quickly to diffuse her confusion.

"How does a city vanish?" Riley asked in a puzzled tone.

"It was told that the spirits believed we had turned against them by retreating into the earth." Jim said.

"Into the Earth?"

"Some have suggested that it was built into an underground cavern somewhere." Jim explained. "Similar to Cliff Palace."

"Ah, I see." Emily said, recollecting back to her visit to the Cliff Palace. She thought of the mighty stone dwellings built into the rock, inspired by the Pueblos.

"After the city disappeared, the people retreated back to the desert." Jim said. Emily quickly flipped through the pages of the diary to the drawings.

"Do you recognize any of these markings?" Emily asked.

"Yes." Jim answered immediately. "These first two are variations of Avanyu, the skysnake."

"The next two are the ones we need to find our way closer to the treasure." Emily told Jim. As she continued to speak, his eyes narrowed as he focused on the order of the drawings, and their collaborative meanings. He soon came to realize that this legend of clues was leading to _two _treasures.

"My God." Jim whispered underneath his breath. "Could it be?"

"What?" Emily asked.

"Wait, what year did it say that the Spaniards brought the treasure into the mountains?"

"1622, or sometime shortly afterwards." Emily responded, noticing Jim's eyes giving a look that she'd seen Ben have on his face many times.

"The Treasure must be hidden in the Lost City." Jim concluded, scanning over the symbols repeatedly. "The city was said to have vanished around 1645."

"Is that reliable?"

"No." Jim responded. "But it could have been possible."

"Do you know what these symbols are?"

"That one is Zia," Jim answered. "You might recognize it as the state symbol of New Mexico."

Emily recollected back to the third clue. "The clue stated that the trail begins in the valley of the four winds."

"Four Winds." Jim stated to himself in a slight state of confusion. "The Grand Canyon?"

"Is that it?"

"I remember that one of the Navajo's names for the Grand Canyon is the Valley of the four winds, because of how the canyon is shaped to be reaching out in four directions." Jim said, reaching under the couch into a stack of books and pulling out an atlas. He opened up to a map of Arizona and pointed out the Grand Canyon. "Do you see how it is shaped so that the valleys and gorges are reaching out in so many directions?"

"Yes." Emily stated.

"Old Navajo folklore used to tell us that the Grand Canyon was created by the battles of the four winds."

"Then what is this symbol?" Emily asked, pointing to the fourth drawing.

"Protector of the skies." Jim responded. "The Eagle."

"It's perched on a mountain." Emily pointed out to Jim.

"Then that must be the marker to the City." Jim responded eagerly. "A mountain within the Grand Canyon."

With a smile, Emily leaned back into the sofa with a sigh of relief.

"Now, only which one?"

* * *

Ben had barely spoken a word all day. His thoughts were swept up in a monstrous typhoon of thoughts, clouding his ability to think about the remaining four clues. The jolting and bumping of the van as it drove along the rocky trail they had been led to sent him flying from his seat on the floor with every rocky obstruction they hit. The three guards watching him from their seats on the other side of the van were glaring at him angrily, as if they were blaming him for their misery. They looked rather poor, their clothes were worn and battered like his own were. He'd assumed that they were immigrants from Mexico eager for work, and in that area of the country, which was abundant with people of this background, they didn't stand out as much as Ian's fellow British henchmen he'd hired when in search of the Templar's Treasure. Every now and then one of them would mutter something in Spanish to the others, each time shooting another glare at him. Suddenly, the van hit the brakes abruptly, sending everything in the van not tied or bolted down flying forward. Ben slid forward, caught by his chains, while the men sitting across from him were piled on top of one another like dominos. After a few moments, the dust behind the van cleared and the back door flung open. Ian stood in the doorway. He first looked in the direction of the four Hispanic men. He snapped something loudly in Spanish, causing them all to pour eagerly out of the van. Once they were gone, he looked towards Ben.

"Are you ready to get back to work?" Ian asked in his normal agitated tone. Ben nodded. Ian clambered over towards his prisoner and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small brass key. He used it to unlock a padlock locking three of the chains in place. Ben could feel a sense of relief sweeping over his body as one by one, the chains were pulled away. Once they were all free, Ian drew out his gun and motioned for Ben to climb out of the van. As he was about to step down, he suddenly felt Ian's foot strike his upper back, sending him sprawling out to the ground. As he rolled through the dust, he came to a stop face down in the dirt. He looked up to see they were on a secluded ridge overlooking a large lake, which the sight of didn't help the fact that Ben hadn't had anything to drink but coffee in two days.

"Well, where is it?" Ian snapped impatiently. "What's the next clue?"

Ben slowly rose to his feet, dusting off his clothes. "I need the papers."

Ian snapped his fingers at one of the men, pointing through the open door of the van. The man scrambled inside and retrieved the small booklet of papers, handing them to Ben. Ben carefully flipped through the pages, trying not to tear them. They were getting rather worn out, and the thought of these pages in such terrible condition made Ben think of what shape the diary must be in.

"Here it is." Ben said, turning to the correct page.

"Well, get on with it!" Ian snapped.

_At the gate to the heavens the eagle stands,  
__Looking down upon the narrow lands.  
__Through the gate the treasure lies,  
__Only seen through Zia's golden eyes._

"Well, now what do we suppose that means?" Ian asked, looking to all his men before turning back to Ben.

"The Zia Pueblo." Ben responded. "It's the Zia Pueblo."

"The what?"

"It was the point where Europeans had their first contact with the natives."

"So that is where we need to look?"

"Yes." Ben sighed, wiping the sweat from his brow gently, trying to hide the cuts on his palm. He didn't want anyone to see them; he didn't want them to see his fears. As the sweltering heat bore down on them, Ian and his men clambered back into the vans, Ben in tow, and continued on their way towards the south, into New Mexico. For the following few hours, Ben sat in the back of the van, chains and all, staring out the window as they drove along. It seemed strange to him at first, but after not long he didn't feel scared anymore. He didn't feel worried. He didn't feel anything. His only thoughts were of them, and his silent and constant prayers were for their safety, and for the treasure's safety.

* * *

"Wow." Riley said with a low sigh as he was led into an old wooden treehouse suspended between the two desert pines on the edge of the Salinas' backyard. "You can see everything from up here."

"Yeah." The girl leading him up the series of ladders replied. "It's quiet, it's private, it's almost like escaping the world for a few moments to yourself."

Riley cracked a smile as Anita led him up to the small treehouse. At first it seemed ridiculous for him to be spending time playing games with a twelve-year-old girl while he knew his best friend could be out there somewhere lost, hurt, or even dead. At the same time, he knew that Joe Salinas and these three kids were now part of their quest. If they really were the descendants of Sophie Hughes, that made them the rightful heirs of the treasure.

"Can I ask you a question, Riley?" Anita asked.

"Sure." Riley responded.

"Do you ever think about dying?" She asked.

Riley paused for a moment, thinking of what to say. His basic instinct told him this was the kind of question she should be asking her grandfather, but the tight pain in his left arm reminded him of his own brush with death that he'd all but forgotten about. "Yes."

"What do you think it's like?"

"Honestly?" Riley asked, wondering if she wanted the truth. When she nodded her head, he felt it right to tell her. "It's almost like flying. You can't feel anything around you, or touch anything."

"I believe that." Anita responded, softly nodding her head. "When my mom died, they told me that she flew up to the heavens on the backs of winged spirits."

Riley smiled again. "They told me that too."

"What?" Anita said, looking at him with a puzzled expression. Riley sighed and collected his thoughts for a moment, thoughts he'd long since blocked from his mind.

"I lost my parents too." He said softly, looking out at the desert landscape reaching off into the distance. "When I was about your age."

"Oh." Anita responded, looking down at him as they paused on the last stretch of ladder reaching up to the platform of the treehouse. Riley nodded silently as Anita pushed the trap door open and she climbed carefully onto the top. Riley followed her and the two sat up there, their legs dangling over the edge.

"Grandpa says you're looking for a great treasure somewhere in the desert."

"We are, indeed." Riley said silently, casually glancing around.

"Is it going to make you rich?"

"I don't know." Riley responded. "I'm not really all too interested in the money anymore."

"Then why do you do it?"

"History." Riley said, smiling at her. "Because it's a way to uncover pieces of history nobody ever knew existed."

"Like the Temple Treasure you guys found in Philadelphia?"

"The _Templar_'s Treasure." Riley corrected. "And yes, like that, and the city of gold."

"Wow." Anita said. "I wish we all could go find the treasure."

Riley's throat tightened as his thoughts returned to the gaping hole in his arm, the feeling of slipping away right in front of Abigail, and having been clinically and legally dead for one minute and seventeen seconds. He knew very well the risks to treasure hunting, and the thought of these kids suffering those kinds of fates he'd witnessed and experienced sent shivers up and down his spine.

* * *

"She looks so much like my mom." Armando said softly as he sat at the kitchen table with Patrick, who was showing him the two pictures of Sophie, after his grandfather had asked him to.

"I know." Patrick said, glancing at the picture of the young woman in the yellow frame hanging in the nearby hallway. "Your mom was pretty."

"Yeah, she was." Armando said, cracking a smile. "Anita and I tell Josie about her as much as we can. She was only two years old when it happened."

"I can't imagine what that must have been like."

"It was terrible." Armando said. "She break out into these huge fits that would come from out of nowhere, they'd be so bad that the doctors actually had to tie her to the bed."

Patrick fidgeted with his fingers for a moment, wondering if perhaps there was more to the connection between Sophie's mysterious illness and what had happened to Rosa.

"Did the doctors ever say what your mom had?"

"Huntington's Disease."

"_That must have been it_." Patrick thought to himself. He concluded that it may have been genetic, passed down through the generations.

"My great-grandma died of it too." Armando said, looking to a black and white photo on the fridge. "Before I was born."

Patrick paused again, worrying that his words were upsetting the boy. However, Armando's response was almost the exact opposite to what Patrick had expected.

"I want to help find the treasure."

"That's thoughtful of you to offer your help, Armando." Patrick responded. "But I'm not sure if your grandfather would want to take a chance with your safety like that."

"But you let your son look." Armando protested. "He took his chances and he found two of the greatest treasures of modern history."

"That is true." Patrick responded. "Only the situation we are in makes this truly unsafe, I shouldn't even be discussing it with you."

"I want to do it for my mom." Armando said. "I know that if she was here, she'd be out looking for it right as we are speaking here."

Patrick had never been that good at winning arguments. Not wanting to intrude further into this family's past, he left the decision to Joe, and of course Tyler.

* * *

As the early evening set in, Ian hopelessly let his head rest in his hands on the desk built into the back of the first of the two vans. The treasure which would secure his freedom was not much closer than it had been before, and the horrible truth that they were coming after him was sinking in. He had nineteen unanswered calls on his cell phone, for which only two people had the numbers for. Plus to his horror, he discovered that the FBI had released the news that he had escaped from prison. His face would be all over the news by morning. It was hopeless.

"Boss?" A voice asked from behind him.

"What is it Rodriguez?" He asked. He looked behind him towards the tall young man who had retrieved the diary from Dr. Chase in New York.

"I think something's gone a bit awry with the hunt."

"What in the devil are you talking about."

"Well, it's that clue about following the serpent of fire." Rodriguez stammered nervously. "I didn't think it sounded right as the name of the Gunnison, so I looked it up and I found that the serpent of fire relates to the Colorado River.

Ian froze in his seat, his eyes slowly widening. He shook slightly, feeling his stomach lurch into his throat in fear. "_What?"_

"The Rio del Tizon was the name that the Spanish gave to the Colorado River." Rodriguez said. "It means the River of Embers."

"So that means Gates fucked up?" Ian said angrily.

"Not exactly." Rodriguez said again. "I think you should see this."

Ian stood shakily from his seat and rushed over to where his accomplice was working.

"Do you remember in the second clue how it mentioned the river led eastward to the trail?"

"Yes."

"Well, I took another look at the cipher and I found that the clue really said _westward leading in the light of day_."

Ian quickly snatched the scanned copy of the diary page his accomplice had tried to re-decipher using the page from the bible. Before long Ian put the pieces together. They'd been double crossed.

"_THAT BASTARD_!" Ian cussed, grabbing the diary and chucking it across the van, where it struck the opposite wall and broke apart, pages scattering about on the ground. Ian began hyperventilating and his face was turning a deep shade of red. Rodriguez looked at him cautiously as Ian paced back and forth quickly. "We've wasted all this time?"

"Not necessarily." Rodriguez stated. Ian looked up at his accomplice once more.

"Do you remember when you gave me Gates' watch to give to his girlfriend?"

"Yeah."

"I opened it up and slipped one of those new tracking chips inside of it."

"The ones from Russia?" Ian asked.

"Yeah." Rodriguez responded. He quickly turned to his laptop. "Once I put the ID number for the chip in, I've got a program which will have recorded it's whereabouts since I left it with Dr. Chase."

As soon as the window opened up, Ian's panicked expression gave way to a relieved, evil grin. The map of the United States was graced with a long streak of red dots leading from Washington DC, clear across the Midwest to Colorado, right near the point where they'd first started. As Ian expected, the dotted line was soon replaced by a similar line with the red dots placed closer together, indicating slow movement.

"This may work after all." Ian said with a grin. "She'll lead us right to the treasure."

"What about Gates?" Rodriguez asked. "Should we do away with him?"

Ian paused for a moment as he let his hate and anger towards Ben fester. He thought it was clever of Ben to have done what he did, creating a diversion so that his girlfriend could find the treasure.

"No, not yet." Ian responded. "I want him to suffer. I want _them all _to suffer."

Ian broke out into a soft, devilish chuckle as Rodriguez pinpointed the holder of Ben Gates' watch.

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 18: Terror by Twilight


	18. Terror by Twilight

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 18: Terror by Twilight

Abigail looked out the window of the truck as the sun began to set over the horizon. She silently listened to Tyler speaking on his cell phone with Sadusky, informing him that they had found, without a shadow of a doubt, that Sophie Hughes indeed did have living relatives. At first Sadusky was skeptical about the idea, but when Tyler confirmed they had corresponding photos of her, it became clear that it was true.

"Thanks, Boss." Tyler said as he ended his call with Sadusky. "Well, he's going to send somebody out there tomorrow to keep an eye on them while we keep searching."

"I did think it was rather odd how Jim changed his mind about helping us." Emily said in a puzzled tone. "He was so eager to learn more about this."

"I think I may have scared him a little with the whole FBI thing." Tyler said in an apologetic tone.

"Well, you didn't know." Alan sighed as he watched for his house to come into view as they drove back into Kayenta. "A lot of people are very cautious about matters like this."

"Can you really blame him, though?" Emily added. "Considering how many people that poor man his lost, why would he risk his grandchildren like that?"

"True." Alan remarked. "Very true."

When the truck came to a stop in front of Alan's house, Emily shook his hand as she waved him goodbye.

"It was nice seeing you, Vicki!" He called as he entered the house. They all watched as his house disappeared from view while Tyler drove them to one of the handful of motels located alongside the nearby interstate. Abigail looked over and noticed Riley was practically dead asleep in his seat. "You alright?"

"Just tired." Riley responded with a yawn.

"Well, you'd better get some sleep." Patrick informed him. "We leave for the Grand Canyon first thing in the morning."

* * *

"Did you brush your teeth?" Joe asked his youngest granddaughter, standing in the doorway of the living room in her pajamas.

"Yes, Grandpa." Josie said tiredly.

"Anita, would you put her to bed, please?" Joe asked his other granddaughter.

"Alright." Anita yawned, setting down her copy of _The Templar's Treasure_ and taking her sister by the hand and leading her down the hallway. Armando turned off the television and sat in quiet for a few moments before beginning a conversation with his Grandfather.

"Grandpa?" Armando asked, catching his Grandfather's attention.

"Yes?" Joe asked, setting down his newspaper.

"Why did they leave so abruptly?"

"They needed to get going."

"But what about the treasure?" Armando asked. "Sophie's Treasure."

"I'm sure they'll find it."

"Shouldn't _we _be the ones looking for it?"

"Why would we want to pursue something like that?"

"Because we're her family!" Armando cried. "It's our duty!"

"Armando!" Joe hissed. "Lower your voice."

Armando sunk back into his chair silently. Joe took a deep breath to calm himself down, while noticing that his grandson's eyes were red. He removed his reading glasses and looked closer at Armando's face without moving. Before long, he understood what was upsetting the boy.

"Armando," Joe said calmly. "I know how much finding this treasure would have meant to your mom. It would have meant a lot to my own mother too. But they're experienced in searching for things like that. You should be proud that we found friends like them who are willing to do such an honorable service to the Navajo Nation."

Armando nodded reluctantly. "I guess you're right." He sighed, looking out into the darkness of the night and the star filled sky. While he was looking, he noticed something rather peculiar coming down their driveway. He aw a pair of dimly lit headlights coming from a vehicle driving through the night in their direction.

"Grandpa!" Armando said, pointing to the lights. "Look, they're back!" Joe turned from his chair and looked out the window, noticing right away the headlights moving in their direction. At first he also thought it was Dr. Chase and the others returning, but when he saw the vehicle drive past the wooden lamp post at the point where the driveway took a sharp turn, he could see it wasn't them. Joe quickly rose to his feet.

"Get your sisters into the crawlspace." Joe said silently as he turned off the lamp on the table between him and Armando.

"Grandpa?"

"Go NOW!" Joe snapped. Armando did as he was told, scrambling over to the walkway.

"Dr. Chase said somebody else was after the treasure, and if it's so serious that the FBI is involved, than the other people looking for it must not have the best of intentions in doing so."

Armando took a deep breath, taking one last look at his grandfather before darting down the hall.

"Armando!" Joe called, drawing his grandson back to the doorway.

"Tell your sisters I love them." Joe said silently. "And there has never been one moment in the past sixteen years when I haven't been proud of you."

Armando paused for a moment, trying to absorb what was going on. He'd known something like this would get them into trouble someday, but never like this.

"Take your mother's chest with you."

Armando nodded, sprinting down the hallway to the girls' room.

"Anita!" Armando snapped, quietly opening the door and entering the room, closing it behind him. "Wake up! Get Josie up!"

"Armando?" Anita asked sleepily. "What's going on?"

"There's some bad people coming to look for the treasure!" He hissed. Armando's statement was confirmed when a bright light shined over the window on the front face of the house. Anita sprang from her bed and grabbed her sneakers, slipping them over her bare feet. Armando quickly reached under his sister's bed and pulled out a small wooden trunk about the size of a shoebox, with their mother's initials carved into the wood.

"What's wrong?" Josie asked sleepily as Anita woke her up. Anita looked at her brother, neither one of them wanting to scare their baby sister.

"We need to hide." Armando said in a false calm voice. "A spirit has come to talk to Grandpa."

"Oh no!" The girl cried. "Is she coming to take him to be with Mommy?"

"We don't think so." Anita responded. "They're just going to talk." Anita pulled her sister from her bed and helped her quickly to put on the jeans she had worn the day before.

"Grandpa said to get into the crawl space." Armando said as he led his sisters into the bathroom connecting their two bedrooms. Anita shut the lights off in her room behind her and closed the bathroom door, turning the light off. Armando took a flashlight from the emergency cabinet in the tower next to the sink and shined it on the largest and lowest cabinet. He opened the door and pulled the shelf out, exposing an iron grate. He pulled it away and handed Anita the flashlight.

"Get her down there." He ordered. "I'll be right back."

Anita looked at her brother worriedly as she helped Josephine crawl through the cabinet door into the crawl space. Back in his bedroom, Armando grabbed the backpack he kept packed for whenever he'd go off on his own. When he silently returned to the bathroom, he jumped when he heard glass breaking.

"Hurry!" Anita whispered from in the crawl space. Armando quickly dropped their mother's chest through the hatch, followed by his backpack. He could hear a commotion of voices coming from the living room as he silently climbed into the hole. He stood on the ground beneath the trailer, his head stocking out of the hole as he reached for the shelf. As he pulled it back into the cabinet and set it back into place, he could hear some of what the men were saying to his grandfather.

"_Where are they headed?" _A mysterious voice asked.

"_Who?"_ Joe responded in a puzzled tone.

"_The ones looking for the treasure!_"

"_What treasure?"_

Armando quickly pulled the cabinet door closed and put the metal grating back into place. Just as he crouched down beside his sisters, he heard the bathroom door swing open and could see the light turning on. He heard a man cussing with a Hispanic accent and could hear small objects crashing to the floor. More yelling and more crashing could be heard over the next two minutes, and just as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

Armando signaled for his sisters to be quiet as he listened to what was going on above them.

BANG! BANG! BANG! Three gunshots rang out in the darkness. Anita gasped horridly, tightly hugging her arms around Josephine. Armando shakingly reached into his backpack and pulled out a digital camera. He crawled slowly over towards the wooden lattice along the foundation of the house. Turning off the flash, he aimed towards the two men he could see standing in the light from their porch light. He snapped a few pictures and watched as the two of them and three others piled into the van and drove away. He waited until the van had driven over the distant hill and out of sight, listening for some movement in the house.

"Grandpa?" Armando called.

Nothing. Just silence. Armando looked over at Anita and Josephine, knowing very well that something terrible had happened.

* * *

"_God, I'm starving_." Abigail thought to herself as she stared eagerly at the Lean Cuisine warming up in the microwave in their motel room. She glanced around and saw Riley fast asleep atop one of the two double beds, Patrick and Emily sitting facing each other at the table, and Tyler was on his computer, mapping out a route to the Grand Canyon. She wasn't tired; she was just eager for the sun to rise so they could find the treasure before Ian and his men got wind of Ben's plan. She hoped it wasn't too late. She decided to forget about eating for a moment and walked over towards Emily.

"Mom?" Abigail asked. "Are you alright?"

Emily looked up at Abigail, her face very pale.

"Seeing those children," Emily said softly, staring out the window. "Thinking so much had been taken from them, and yet they seemed to be so happy."

"I know." Abigail said, nodding. She knew perfectly well that Emily was going through a parent's worst nightmare. If Ben was dead, the thought of which made her want to shatter into a million pieces, he had died alone, hurt, and robbed of his honor and respect, which he'd spent most of his life gaining back for himself and the entire Gates family. Suddenly, Emily released an onslaught of tears from her eyes and began to fall sideways out of her chair.

"Oh, God! Em!" Abigail said, catching Emily in her arms. She was worried this might happen, it had been too much for Emily. As Ben's mother sobbed gently into Abigail's shoulder, she felt it was the right time to show her something.

"Emily?" Abigail asked, dropping their alias names for this one moment. Emily looked up, trying to clear the tears from her eyes.

"Yes, sweetheart?" Emily responded. Abigail slowly reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the small red box.

"Before he left, Ben told Riley to keep an eye on this for him." She said. "It was meant for me."

Emily's eyes cleared as she recognized the box. It had come from the same Jeweler's store where Patrick had bought her own engagement ring. Emily slowly and carefully took it in her hands as Patrick stood up and kneeled next to his wife. "What's that all over it?" Patrick asked.

"It was in Riley's jacket pocket when he was shot." Abigail answered.

Patrick gasped, looking at Riley. "If I know Riley, he wouldn't break a promise like that to Ben unless he felt he didn't have a choice."

"Have you looked at it yet?" Emily asked.

"No." Abigail responded. "I wanted to wait until he could give it to me himself."

Emily smiled at that comment. She knew very well how much Ben loved her.

"Are you going to?" Emily asked hesitantly, trying to think of the right words. "If he doesn't-"

"Then I will." Abigail said, trying not to cry over her own words. "If he does, I'll never take it off."

With that sentence, their conversation was interrupted by an abrupt banging on the door.

"Hello?" A boy's voice called from outside the door. Abigail's eyes narrowed as she pictured the voice with the face in her memory.

"Armando?" Abigail said in a puzzled tone as she walked over to the door, peering through the hole to see if it was him. "It's Joe's grandkids." Abigail opened the door and she was almost knocked off her feet by the three children stumbling into the room. Armando pushed Abigail in gently and closed the door, Anita looking out the window through the blinds. Josephine, in the meanwhile, rand to Abigail, clinging to her waist and crying into her jacket.

"Oh Abigail!" Josie sobbed. "Our Grandpa's dead!"

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 19: The Night Spirit


	19. The Night Spirit

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 19: The Night Spirit

"He's dead." Armando confirmed. "I looked."

"How?" Abigail asked. "What happened?"

"Somebody came to the house after you left." Anita said, her lip trembling. "I saw through my window, it was some people in a big white van."

Abigail's eyes widened and she held a still breath as she looked at Tyler. "It couldn't be." She said in disbelief.

"Did you know those men?" Anita asked.

"Were they the others you said were after Sophie's Treasure?" Armando asked.

"I don't know." Abigail said, kneeling down and taking Josephine in her arms. As she picked up the crying child, she glanced out the window, then to the door, growing nervous. "Did you see them?"

"Better." Armando said, still in a state of shock. "I got a picture." Armando pulled his digital camera out of his backpack and turned it on, handing it to Abigail. She paused for a moment in fear as she looked at the photo on the screen. Although it was dark, she could recognize who it was.

"It's Ian all right." She said grimly. "He knows we're here."

"What?" Riley said, rolling off his bed and landing on the floor with a thud. "What do we do now?"

Emily held her hand to her mouth as she looked out the window while Patrick nervously combed his fingers through his hair.

"We need to go." Tyler announced. "Now!"

"Where?" Patrick asked.

"The Police." Tyler responded.

"We can't!" Armando exclaimed. "They'll find the treasure!"

"Look, I know you want to find it, but this is too dangerous."

"He's right." Abigail said, turning back to Tyler after giving Josephine to Emily. "We've come too far to stop now."

"Yeah!" Riley added, facing Tyler as well. Tyler looked around to see everybody opposing him.

"It looks like you're outvoted." Patrick pointed out.

"That being so," Tyler sighed reluctantly. "How on earth are we supposed to find this place in the middle of the night?"

"I know the way." Armando said. "There's a way into the Grand Canyon I take with my friends all the time."

"Are you sure it's safe to travel at night?" Tyler asked, feeling ridiculous for asking someone over half his age about doing such a thing.

"I'm sure." Armando said.

Within ten short minutes, their things were packed and the eight of them began to squeeze into the SUV. Tyler drove, with Armando in the front seat. Abigail and Emily sat in the back seat with Anita and Josephine, while Patrick and Riley climbed into the far back. Once they were all checked out, Tyler came running back towards the truck, nervously glancing around while trying not to look too suspicious. He climbed into the driver's seat, seeing Armando holding a wooden box on his lap.

"What's that?" Tyler asked.

"It was my mother's." Armando said. "Everything she collected in her own search for the lost city."

"Really?" Abigail asked. Armando nodded as Tyler started the engine. He opened the box to reveal an old notebook and a small canvas pouch. Tyler tried to keep his eyes on the road as he approached the exit to the motel parking lot. He was about to turn left towards the interstate when he saw a white van coming down the street. The same one that was in the picture in Armando's camera.

"_Oh God_." Tyler gasped. He quickly and hastily made the left turn onto the main street, passing right by the white van with the tinted front windows. He hoped that if it was them, they hadn't seen anything. He soon found out he was very wrong when he saw the van make an erratic U-turn in the street.

"Armando," Tyler asked nervously. "Is that the van you saw at your Grandpa's house?"

Armando looked behind him through the back window and when Tyler saw the boy's eyes widen, he knew this wasn't going to be good.

"SHIT!" Tyler cursed as he sped up towards the interstate exit down the road. In his rear view mirror, he saw the van speeding up too. "That's them!"

"What!" Abigail cried, looking behind them at the white van on their tail.

"Oh, God!" Emily cried as she held onto Josephine in her lap.

"How are we going to do this?" Riley shouted from the back.

"With extreme difficulty, I gues_SSSSSSSSSS_!" Tyler said before his voice rose into a shout when he realized he almost missed the turn. He turned the wheel sharply to get the truck onto the ramp leading to the interstate below. As he did, the truck tipped towards the right side, the left tires leaving the ground briefly as they turned. The girls screamed as the truck came to a rest back on all four tires, and as soon as the truck entered the interstate, Tyler pressed his foot to the floor and before they knew it, they were flying down the interstate at over 75 miles per hour. "Hang on, everybody!"

"How are we going to get into the canyon?" Patrick yelled from the back seat. "It's fenced in and guarded."

"The river." Armando yelled back. "There's a spot after the highway crosses the Colorado River, and if we can get there, we can follow the river into the canyon."

"That shouldn't be a problem." Riley thought, considering they'd broken into things far more secure than national parks.

"Is there a trail along the river?" Abigail asked.

"Yes, but it's very long." Armando responded. "If we could find a boat, that would be faster."

"I have a boat." Tyler stated.

"There's no way we'll all fit into that!"

"We'll manage." Tyler responded back, trying to steady his steering as he kept close eyes on the white van coming up on their rear.

"Wait," Armando asked. "Does this thing have four wheel drive?"

"Yes."

"Then I know how we can lose them in the desert."

It was about thirty minutes of steady speeding down the highway when they suddenly found themselves looking at a dead end.

"The highway turns here." Armando said. "You want to turn to the south."

Tyler looked and saw a sigh pointing to the left, pointing in the direction of Flagstaff. Once they turned after slightly slowing down, Tyler noticed that the white van that had followed them since Kayenta had fallen behind three or four miles.

"There!" Armando suddenly yelled, pointing to a dirt road leading off to the west. "Right there!"

Tyler tried to slow down quickly, taking a sharp right turn into the darkness of the Arizona desert. The truck bounced and rocked violently on the rocky trail for a few moments before Tyler was able to slow down. As soon as he could, Tyler brought the van to a stop and switched off the headlights, shutting off the motor to seclude the truck in the darkness. Sweat dripping down his forehead, he watched the white van drive past the road and continue on down the highway towards Flagstaff. Everybody breathed a sigh of relief in the darkness. In the back, Patrick looked out at the lonely desert under the starry night sky, and said a silent prayer for Joe Salinas. After this, there was no turning back. Once he let the engine cool down for a few minutes, Tyler started the truck up again, switched on the headlights, and they continued on their way into the desert.

"About seven or eight miles down this road, there is a wooden marker with an arrow pointing to the right." Armando said. "Turn there, and we'll find a river which flows down into the Colorado."

"Right into the canyon?" Tyler asked.

"Right into the canyon." Armando responded. It wasn't long before Tyler spotted a small wooden sign posted near a spot where the road they were on crossed another trail, lading off to the north.

"This is the one."

As they drove along, Emily fished around in her purse for a pen light as Abigail pulled out her sketchpad with the hidden diary pages.

"Anita, can you hold this for me?" Abigail asked softly."

"Sure." The girl responded, taking in hand the pages. Anita looked at them curiously, wondering what the funny looking puzzle was.

"That is the cipher which hid the clues." Abigail pointed out to Anita.

"A Cipher?" Anita asked. "Like a puzzle?"

"Yeah." Abigail responded. "We've figured out four of the clues so far, now we're on the fifth."

"Is this it here?" Anita asked, pointing towards the fifth set of letters drawn onto the page.

_At the gate to the heavens the eagle stands,  
Looking down upon the narrow lands.  
Through the gate the treasure lies,  
Only seen through Zia's golden eyes._

Anita thought hard for a second. As painful as it was, she recollected to a story her Grandfather had told her. He said that when the spirits banished the lost city to the underworld, they left behind two twin spirits to guard the city. They watched it's hidden location always, waiting for the evil spirits within it to flee back to where they came from. It wasn't until then that Anita remembered that it was by that legend that the lost city got it's name.

"I remember now." Anita said softly. "The city's name is Kokato."

"Kokato?" Emily asked.

"It means City in the Shadows." Anita explained. "My Grandpa told me."

Abigail thought to herself for a moment. "_City in the Shadows."_

"So, it says the city lies beneath the gate that only the Zia can see." Armando said, listening in from the front seat.

"How can a mountain be a gate?" Anita asked. "I can see two mountains, but not one."

"That's it!" Armando exclaimed, looking back at his sister. "You did it!"

"What?" Riley asked from the far back.

"Twin Buttes!" Armando explained. "It's a mountain near the center of the canyon which has _two peaks_!"

Abigail's thoughts switched to her visit to the Grand Canyon several years earlier. She vaguely remembered hearing about Twin Buttes, but couldn't remember much more. She quickly switched back to the map drawn in the diary pages and picked up where they had left off in pinpointing the clues on the map by using the drawings. Her attention focused on the large recess drawn into the geographical features of the map, which she believed must have been the Grand Canyon as Merez and his men had seen it. In her mind, she imagined the eagle perched atop the mountain, at the same angle it was drawn at in the book, and slowly scanned over the general area in the canyon in which she believed Twin Buttes was. Before long, she found a spot where it fit in. A land formation which looked like two dots connected within a series of dumbbell-shaped circles, one drawn inside of another. The eagle fit perfectly over it, the wings fitting over the two peaks and the small triangle representing the mountain fit into what looked like the indication of a large recess in the mountain's side.

"_Could that be it_?" Abigail thought silently to herself. She wasn't sure, but in the end she knew there was only one way to find out.

* * *

Ben trembled violently in the darkness, secluded within a dark space which he believed was the wooden crate in the back of the van. The last thing he remembered beforehand was someone taking him by the back of the head and smashing his forehead through one of the rear windows of the van. After that, he blacked out for what seemed like several hours. When he finally came to, he knew he was hurt, and bad. His head was throbbing, the pain centered around a large wound he could feel on his forehead, which he could tell was bleeding. On his back, it felt like somebody had taken a white hot wire and pressed it into his back. One of his shoulders was dislocated, and he could feel a sharp pain in his chest every time he took a deep breath. On top of all of that, he was cold. He felt his clothes were wet with something, but he didn't know what. Was it water? Was it sweat? Or was it blood? He couldn't be sure of any of this, the only thing he was sure of was that there was a thick strip of duct tape plastered over his eyes.

"You disappoint me, Ben." A voice whispered from out of the darkness.

"_What_?" Ben asked weakly, trying not to breathe too hard.

"I must admit it was clever of you," The voice said again. "But I honestly thought we were friends."

"_Wh-Who's there?"_ Ben asked again, choking over his own breath.

"It doesn't matter anyways, Ben." The voice said. "You're going home soon."

"_I am?" _Ben thought to himself.

"It turns out that your pretty girlfriend wished to keep your watch as a memento of her fallen hero after all." The voice said with a slight chuckle. "So sweet of her."

"_Abigail?"_ Ben thought to himself. _"She had his watch?"_

"Lucky for us that we thought to place that tracking device inside of it." The voice said, the soft chuckle growing more audible. "I must say she's quite the gutsy lady, if you ask me."

Ben felt his entire body go numb with shock when he heard about what was inside his watch. The watch they'd given to Abigail. The one she may have kept with her as they searched for the treasure.

"She's leading us right to them, Ben." Ian snickered. "And right to the treasure."

"_No." _Ben said in denial, trying to shake his head but the pains in his back prevented him from doing so. "_NO!"_

He heard Ian laughing to himself, followed by a loud bang which he thought was the sound of the lid of the crate slamming shut. The slamming of the lid sent a jolt through the crate, and in return through Ben's body. He winced in pain, gritting his teeth together. He hadn't been gagged. It wouldn't have made any difference anyway. Ben's mouth was so dry that he could barely talk.

The entire plan had been blown to pieces right before his eyes. They were all done for indefinitely now; His parents, Riley, and Abigail. The treasure would be lost, it's contents scatterd throughout the black market of the world, piece by piece, being sold off by one person after another to pay for drugs, prostitutes, booze, and God knows what else. Sophie's Treasure had gone to waste, she'd suffered for nothing.

His strength gone, Ben gently let his head come to a rest on the bottom of the crate, letting his limbs go as limp as the chains would let them. There was nothing else he could do, no more cluse to find, no more puzzles to solve, nothing. All that was left for him to do was to lie in the silence and wait to die.

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 20: The Heart of the Serpent


	20. The Heart of the Serpent

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 20: The Heart of the Serpent

The night air had gotten cold by the time Abigail, Riley and the others reached the end of the dirt road leading west into the desert. The truck came to a stop at the end of the road, near a line of small bushes and trees alongside the path. Tyler and Armando stepped out first, flashlights dimly in hand. As Armando pointed out to Tyler where the river was, the others got ready for the rocky hike. In the truck, Emily and Abigail found some of their own clothing they could lend to Anita and Josephine to protect them from the cold. The darkness beckoned them to do so, as nothing but darkness could be seen for miles and miles. The crescent moon did, however provide enough moonlight to illuminate parts of a natural landmark which was among one of the greatest natural wonders in the world; The Grand Canyon.

"I don't see it." Riley stated, looking out into the darkness.

"It's pitch black out, Riley." Patrick stammered, pulling a sweater over his head. "Of course you can't see it."

"No, it's just that I've heard that it's really cool to see it by Moonlight."

"That's probably when closer to it." Patrick responded. "And on a night with a full moon."

Riley nodded in agreement as he replaced his canvas sneakers with hiking boots. Patrick had done the same moments before, and was now digging around in the back for his battery lantern. As he looked, he noticed Riley acting rather peculiar, more than usual. "Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not scared of the dark, are you?"

"No." He said through his teeth. Patrick chuckled with a playful sense of humor as he continued to look for his lantern.

"I'm not!" Riley insisted. "I'm not afraid of the dark. It's nature that I can't stand."

"What's wrong with nature?" Anita cried from the middle seats.

"Nothing's wrong with it when you can see it-"

"So it is the dark." Anita said, calling him out on the truth. Riley's face began to turn red as the others in the truck chuckled softly. Then, one by one they stepped out onto the gravel road. The temperature had dropped down somewhere in the forties, and when they saw Armando and Tyler walking back towards the truck, they could see their breaths illuminated by the lights from their flashlights.

"There's a pathway leading down into the gorge further over this way." Tyler informed them. "It's pretty steep, so we need to inflate the raft up here."

In the back of the truck, Riley helped Tyler pull out the large black case containing the raft. Within minutes it was inflated and once Riley got the paddles put together, they were almost ready to go.

"Uh, fellas?" Abigail said. "We've got a problem."

"What?" Riley asked.

"Lifejackets." She responded. "We're three short."

"Armando can have mine." Riley said. "I'm not afraid of getting wet."

"Okay." Abigail said with a nod. "Now, what about the girls?"

"Anita, can you hold Josephine in your lap?" Tyler asked. Anita nodded. "Then they can both have my lifejacket. I'm a pretty good swimmer too."

Once they got the truck all locked up and their gear all packed up, which consisted of three knapsacks of things, Riley and Tyler picked up the Raft and the group followed Armando towards the trail. He walked aside Patrick through the tall grasses, illuminated dimly by Patrick's lantern. Abigail walked behind, Josephine riding on her back, while Anita walked alongside Emily with a flashlight. The group was followed by the two men with the raft. After a few dozen yards or so, a sudden drop-off appeared in the ground as the gorge suddenly appeared out of the darkness.

"Be careful." Armando instructed. "It's really steep in some spots."

Slowly but surely, they inched their way down the path to the water's edge. Abigail and Emily watched the rock wall pass them by as they descended into the earth, looking on as the layers of different colors of brown and tan ascended upwards. Every now and then, a few rocks would give way from the outer edge of the path and go tumbling down below. Before long, the noise of running water could be heard.

"Excellent!" Armando exclaimed, jumping from the edge of the rock at the end of the trail. Patrick followed him into the darkness and the light from his lantern revealed a clear, slow moving pool of water that had collected on the bottom of the gorge.

"It looks like it's hardly moving." Riley stated, expecting to find faster moving waters.

"This is just one of the still spots." Armando answered to Riley's remark. "It does get really rough in some areas, but there are ways to get around most of them."

"_Most _of them?" Abigail said with a nervous tone in her voice.

"We should be fine." Armando said, stopping and setting his backpack down on the ground. He fished around inside until he found an old map of the canyon floor. "This map shows where all the bad rapids are, and there are trails and paths leading around them.

Abigail nodded as Tyler and Riley softly rested the raft into the water, and then stood along the edge of the rock to hold it in place.

"All Aboard!" Tyler announced.

Armando and Patrick climbed in first, settling tightly into the far front of the raft. Abigail helped the two girls and Emily in, before joining them in her seat in the center of the raft. Tyler held the back of the raft in place as Riley climbed in, and then leapt into his spot as the raft drifted away from the rock and into the main current of the river. Armando held up his flashlight to point out the direction for them to head in.

"It's ahead a ways that way, and then a little bit to the left." Armando informed while Patrick set his lantern on the brightest setting it would go to before setting it in the middle of the raft, amongst the women. Riley and Tyler gently paddled their way into the main current of the river, which caught them with a jolt and sent them nose-first down the shallow incline. Abigail's stomach lurched at the first three inclines they went through, her heart leaping into her throat every time they struck the bottom of one. She had placed the copy of the diary pages into a plastic bag and placed it into her backpack, which sat at her side in the raft. She looked around at the numerous rocks and boulders in the riverbed they passed. The lights they had were enough to make everything within fifteen or twenty feet visible. After about 20 or 30 minutes of floating their way down the stream, they came to a fork where the river they were on emptied into another river. This one was much deeper, as when Abigail shined her flashlight into the water, she could barely see the bottom.

"There are some small rapids coming up." Armando warned. "Steady on the paddles!"

"He seems to know what he's doing." Emily commented.

"He does." Anita replied. "He comes here with his friends during the summer a lot."

Anita's words were interrupted by some bumps from the raft going over shallow waters. Armando had an oar in hand in the front, steering them gently away from any sharp rocks.

"We need to move to the right!" He suddenly snapped. "There's some rapids we need to get around!"

Tyler and Riley paddled over to the right just as they passed a large rock marking a split in the river. They could hear the gentle roar of a small series of rapids in the left stream, which sounded very rough compared to the gentle and swift waters they'd taken. "We'll be on the Colorado before long." Armando announced. "The River of Embers."

Barely two and a half hours had passed since they'd found their way to the water's edge, the raft floated into the calm waters of the Colorado River. They were in the Grand Canyon. The walls stood tall above them, silhouetted by the nighttime sky. The river itself was very wide and calm where they entered. The reflection of the moonlight on the water illuminated some more features of the nearby landscape. As they floated along for the next hour or so, Armando laid out his map of the Grand Canyon on the bottom of the raft and pointed out the location to Twin Butte.

"It looks to be about twenty miles from here." Armando said. "We can follow Crystal Creek up into the hills where the mountain is."

"Do you think we can find it?" Josephine asked sleepily.

Abigail smiled at the girl. "I'm sure we can." Deep down inside, she thought it was rather odd that they were reacting to this whole situation so calmly when they had just lost their grandfather. Armando recognized the look on her face, because he'd seen many of them after they had lost their mother.

"It's alright, Dr. Chase," Armando said in a low voice. "We are doing this to honor our family." Both Anita and Josephine nodded in agreement. Abigail looked at Emily, then nodded apologetically. Armando cracked a smile and returned his focus to the map. "There's a stretch of river about three or four miles long that is too rough to navigate, and we can follow the river along the path on the rocks until things calm down.

"How far is it?" Patrick asked, looking ahead on the river.

"Shouldn't be too long." Armando responded. The distant howling of a coyote from somewhere in the canyon made everybody in the raft jump.

"That's what I was referring to when I said _I Hate Nature_." Riley said in a high pitched voice.

"Here it is." Armando said, pointing his flashlight to a rocky shoreline alongside the river's edge. The ominous roar of water coming from just a few yards downstream made Riley and Tyler paddle like mad to get to shore. Once they felt the bottom of the raft scrape against the rocky shore, they all slowly clambered out, collecting their things. While Riley and Tyler lifted the raft from the water, Emily passed around a bottle of water amongst the group. Once they were all finished, Armando pointed his flashlight to the rocky path along the water's edge.

"Does anybody know what time it is?" Riley asked with a dull yawn. Abigail fished Ben's watch out of her pocket and lit it up.

"3:37 AM."

"Correct time zone?" Riley asked.

"Yep."

"Alrighty." Riley said, looking up at the stars from under the raft. Armando stopped to help Patrick over a long drop, but Patrick simply leapt over the drop, landing on both feet four feet below.

"Patrick!" Emily hissed. "Be careful."

"I'm assuming we're not using our aliases anymore?" Riley asked.

"Not much point in doing that anymore." Tyler responded. "They know we're here already."

"That reminds me." Abigail noted, thinking to herself. "How'd they find us so quickly?"

"I couldn't tell you." Tyler responded.

* * *

Meanwhile, the sun was rising over New Jersey as Sadusky was making his weekly three-hour commute from his home in New York to his job in Washington DC. It was rough at times, but it was worth it when it came to keeping the job he loved and keeping the roots he and his wife had maintained in the Bronx for 26 years. As he flipped through the stations, he finally came across top headlines for the day. At first, it seemed to be not much more than bickering politicians, but one piece of news did catch his attention in a way he never liked his attention to be caught.

_Tragedy struck the Navajo Nation late last night when two brutal crimes took place in the small town of Kayenta, Arizona. Two people are dead and three children are missing after what has been reported as a "double homicide." Dr. Alan Samuels of Kayenta was found stabbed to death in the bathroom of his home late last night when neighbors called the police after hearing glass breaking in Dr. Samuels' home. Samuels was pronounced dead at the scene. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a large white van in the alley behind Samuel's house shortly before the incident occurred. That same van was seen fleeing the vicinity of a farm about seven miles north of Kayenta, where a state patrol officer saw the van departing abruptly from a dead-end driveway. The owner of the farm, identified as Joseph Salinas, was also pronounced dead at the scene of multiple gunshot wounds. His three grandchildren were reported missing after a search of the home revealed no sign of 16-year-old Armando Salinas, 12-year-old Anita Salinas, and 7-year-old Josephine Salinas. An Amber Alert has been issued for all three children, as the only clue to their whereabouts was the discovery of the family's four-wheeler discovered behind the Blue Cactus Motel in Kayenta near Interstate 80. _

By the time the report was finished, Sadusky had increased his speed by ten miles an hour and was now frantically digging for his cell phone.

After four hours of hiking and rafting down the river, the sunrise brought some added relief to the troop of treasure hunters as they finally reached the mouth of the Crystal River. Patrick sat in the front of the raft, soaked from head to toe after he'd gotten too close to the edge while they were passing a waterfall. Anita was fast asleep, Josephine still buckled into the same lifejacket while sitting in her lap. Abigail was gulping down a bottle of water and looking at the three remaining clues and Emily was shedding off the sweater she'd worn from the night before. The temperature was rising fast and everybody began taking off their sweaters and jackets.

"We're here." Armando announced as he leapt from the raft just seconds before they beached onto a rocky shoreline near the mouth of the Crystal River, an attribute of the Colorado which drained water from the hills to the north. Patrick climbed out slowly, sitting on the rocks to drain out his shoes and socks. Abigail helped the girls onto the shore before helping Emily out of the boat. While Tyler deflated the raft, Riley and Armando took a look at the map. "Our goal should be only about three miles north of here." Riley announced.

"Yep." Armando agreed. "There it is right now." He said proudly, pointing to something which took Abigail's breath away. Patrick stood to Emily's side in his bare feet and admired the sight of it. Riley blinked as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, as he could see the gates to the heavens in the form of the mountain with two peaks.

Little did any of them know, they were being watched.

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 21: Zia's Fountain


	21. Zia's Fountain

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 21: Zia's Fountain

Twin Buttes seemed to grow slowly larger and larger as the team slowly made their way along the rocky shores of Crystal Creek. There was no established trail towards the mountain, so they were only following the map Armando had gotten from one of the Ranger stations. The boy still led the way, a red bandanna tied around his forehead and his backpack hanging from his shoulders. Patrick followed behind, looking around at the rock formations. He thought of what the Spaniards' reaction had been to their first sight of the canyon. In a way, he could almost hear their voices calling in the soft breeze which blew down the canyon floor. The sunlight and the clear blue sky reflected greatly off the clear water.

"I can see why this is called Crystal Creek." Emily stated, looking down into the narrow creek.

"This water flows out of an underground spring in the Canyon wall." Anita said, pointing to the north rim of the Canyon. "My mother used to say that was why the first Navajo settled near here."

"That makes sense." Emily said with a nod as she and Abigail followed Anita and Josephine as they eagerly hopped over the rocks. The slanted slope along the edge of the river was littered with rocks and boulders of all shapes and sizes. Some of them were fairly easy to climb over, some weren't.

"Riley!" Abigail called back towards her friend's direction. "You doing alright?"

"I'm fine!" Riley cried nervously as he was still trying to climb around a large boulder they had to navigate around by the means of a narrow ledge around the rim of it.

"Come on, Riley!" Tyler said eagerly, reaching out his hand to help pull him across. Riley had been a bit nervous in climbing around the rock, mainly because of the twenty foot drop in front of him. He had his back pressed against the rock face, taking deep breaths before attempting to leap back onto the narrow trail they were taking. As he jumped, his foot narrowly missed the ledge and he began falling down towards the water. A shrill shriek erupted from him as Tyler grabbed him by the arms and pulled him onto the ledge. "Woah, easy there now!" Tyler said, pulling Riley to his feet.

"This is insane." Riley moaned, dusting his shirt off. "I'm the computer guy, not the nature guy."

"Oh, come on." Tyler said as he turned back to the trail. Riley exhaled quickly before wiping the sweat from his brow and continuing along the trail. The temperature had probably risen to at least eighty degrees by the time ten o'clock rolled around, making the walk through the rocky gorge even harder. Armando and his sisters were probably more used to the humidity, but the others were struggling to adjust from the New England climate they were used to.

"Abigail?" Riley asked.

"Yeah?"

"Have you any thoughts on how we're supposed to find this city?" He asked. "It must be pretty well hidden if it's within the confines of National Park and nobody's stumbled across it."

"You mean like Cibola was?" Abigail responded sarcastically.

"Oh yeah." Riley said. "Never mind."

"What we should do is get to the mountainside and poke around there." Patrick suggested, looking up at the looming peaks of Twin Butte. When they rounded the last corner of the winding gorge, the gate to the city was within sight, or the supposed gate to the city. It was up a steep slope, majestically silhouetted against the blue sky.

"Wow." Abigail said, looking up at the two peaks, the red and tan rock walls, and the two pillars of stone on either side of the wide gap in the side of the mountain. As she stood there, she closed her eyes and imagined what it may have looked like over four hundred years ago. "I can see why they may have chose this location." Abigail noted.

"I can see it, too." Armando added. "It would have been easily distinguishable to the people who knew of it's true contents, but to any outsiders, it would have just looked like a normal mountain."

The group slowly left the edge of Crystal Creel and stood at the very foot of the mountain. Standing on a rocky ledge at the foot of the rocky hill within the gate, Abigail pulled out the diary pages, she quickly turned to the page with the solved ciphers, looking for the message of the sixth clue. She stood in silence for a few moments, and began shaking her head after a few moments. "That can't be right."

"What?" Riley asked, climbing up to his friend's side. He looked at the page and discovered that the drawing of the Zia Symbol was used twice. However, this one was different. The circle in the center of the first one was hollow, whilst this one was filled in. "What on earth is up with that? Could it mean something?"

"It must." Abigail said. As she turned back to the ciphers, she read aloud the sixth clue.

_The locus of emergence, beneath the mother's tears,  
__Wash away the traces, wash away the fears. _

"Locus of Emergence?" Riley asked, beginning to climb up the rocky slope. "What on earth could that mean?"

"Can I see?" Armando asked. He climbed up next to where Abigail stood, looking over her arm at the sixth clue.

"Emergence," Armando whispered to himself as he thought. "The mother."

"Zia!" Anita blurted out from behind him. "The Sun, Remember?"

"Of course!" Armando said excitedly, looking towards Abigail. "The sun is believed to be the origin of life, so we're probably looking for a sacred place, like a place of prayer or something."

"Alright." Abigail said with a weak smile. "But we still need to find the city."

The two of them looked up at the rocky hill coming down from the vertical cliff of the mountainside. The edges of the cliff that were visible appeared to be solid, but maybe if they took a closer look at them, they might find something. "Let's start at the top of the hill." Abigail suggested.

"Good idea." Patrick said. As he helped Emily up onto the lower rocks at the foot of the hill, Anita and Josephine eagerly scrambled up the rocks, towards their brother. Tyler stood back on a large rock to get a good view of the hillside. Something about this large recess in the side of the mountain did seem rather odd compared to all the other gorges they'd seen in the canyon, but never anything like this.

As he climbed up, Riley noticed something peculiar as he got closer to the cliff's base. He was half-way up the hill, far ahead of the others, and he was beginning to notice that the rocks littering the hillside were beginning to change in color. Down at the foot of the hill, near the river, all the rocks were mostly dull white, gray, or light red. Now, the rocks were becoming more darker shades of red as well as brown. Thinking back to geology from college, he picked up one of the small pieces of rock he found at his feet. The small rock, like most of the rocks on the hill, had jagged edges and rough surfaces, highly contrasted to the smooth, rounded stones on the river's edge. He looked up towards the cliff, holding the rock up to his view of the cliff. He noticed the color matched bands in the rock higher up, towards the peak.

"Okay, maybe I am good with nature." Riley thought as he approached the cliff's edge.

Suddenly, he took a step and a large stone seemed to disappear from beneath him. He yelled out and everybody looked up as the hillside swallowed up Riley.

"RILEY!" Abigail shouted, scrambling up the hill.

"Oh, God! No!" Emily exclaimed as she hurried up the hillside, now pulling Patrick behind her. Tyler quickly darted up the hillside, reaching the jagged hill Riley had fallen through first.

"Riley?" Tyler called down into the hole, waiting for the plume of dust and dirt which had shot out of the hole following Riley's descent to clear. He quickly reached into his pack and found his flashlight, turning it on and shining it down the hole. "Are you alright?"

There was just silence. Abigail peered down the hole behind Tyler.

"Leave it to Riley." She sighed. "Riley, answer me right now or I'm gonna come down there and beat the snot out of you!"

After a few moments, a faint light came up from the bottom of the hole. "_I'm Alright." _He called.

"It's going to be okay, Riley!" Tyler called. "We'll get you out."

Riley coughed heavily as he gasped for fresh air in the dusty cavern he'd fallen into. He'd landed flat on his stomach, which had knocked the wind right out of him.

"_Riley_?" A voice called from above him. "_Riley_!"

"I'm fine!" He called back hoarsely. He shined his flashlight around on the ground, wondering what he'd stepped on which had given way under his weight. When he shined his flashlight to his feet, he saw the floor of the cavern was littered with rubble. As he glanced at the walls of the cavern, he soon realized his fall was out of good luck.

"You guys!" He shouted excitedly up the hole he'd fallen through. "I think I found something!"

Tyler had tied a rope around a large rock nearby and dangled the other end of the rope down. It was about twenty feet to the bottom, and when Tyler first descended into the cavern Riley had fallen into, he found Riley moving slowly down what looked like a narrow passage that had been cut into the rock. "I think we found it." Riley coughed in the dark. Tyler looked behind him to see Abigail coming down the rope, Josephine on her back. A few seconds later, Armando followed, then Anita helping Emily, and finally Patrick. As Riley looked down the passage, he began to see that it grew wider as they got further in. Abigail took her lantern from her pack and switched it on, following closely behind him. Nobody said anything as the group assembled into a line down the passage, which grew wider after a few yards. Abigail looked and saw that it was obviously man-made, as the walls and ceiling were somewhat flat, smooth surfaces. When the passage took a slight turn, the group could see a well defined crack in the wall at the corner. As they got closer to it, the sound of running water came to be heard – and it sounded as if it echoed. After the corner, both Abigail and Riley stopped dead in their tracks.

"Is that light?" Abigail whispered, looking towards a beam of light shining into the tunnel through an opening in the wall. As they approached it, they saw there was a large beam of light coming from somewhere, and it was casting a shadow on the opening. When they were close enough. They were standing in the door, and there it was. Abigail stopped, breathless. Riley let his flashlight fall from his hand, landing on the ground with a thud. As each of the Salinas children came into sight of it, small gasps could be heard. Emily put her hand to her mouth and gasped herself, as did Patrick. Tyler was the last one to see it.

"Holy Mary, Mother of God."

In front of them was an enormous cavern inside the mountain, filled with the dark silhouettes of stone and clay pueblo houses filling the room. They were stacked high alongside the cliff edges, getting shorter towards the center of the cavern. Stone pillars penetrated their view, reaching up hundreds of feet to the ceiling above, where a few rays of light were shining through some holes in the rock at the very top. In the presence of the spirits of the Lost Navajo City of Kokato, the treasure hunters were in the home stretch. Abigail breathed heavily, smiling and trying to hold back her tears.

"_I'm almost there, Ben." _She thought to herself. _"I'm almost there."_

Armando and Anita both stepped out into the first street leading into the city, which they estimated must have been at least one square half-mile in size. They were looking at an enormous piece of their culture thought lost for almost four hundred years. They had done something so many generations of their family had wanted to do, their grandfather, their mother, and so many others. They were both in tears as Anita fell into her brother's arms, Josephine sandwiched in between them. The others stood in silence for a few moments, giving the children a few moments to embrace the moment their family had waited to experience for generations. Once a few moments had passed, they released each other and turned back to Abigail and Riley.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

Armando and Anita took off in the direction of a nearby street leading deeper into the city.

"Hey!" Josephine squealed. "Wait for me!"

"Wait! Stop!" Abigail yelled, chasing after the children with her flashlight, the others following. Abigail could see Armando with his flashlight running up the walkway, his sisters in tow. They came to a stop in front of a large tower about four or five stories high, near the center of the city.

"Dr. Chase!" Armando yelled back to Abigail. "We can see the whole city from up here!"

When Abigail finally caught up to them, she looked through the door of the first floor of the tower, and in the corner of the large room she could see a wooden ladder going to the upper levels.

"Why don't the three of you take a first look at things up there?" Abigail suggested, handing Armando the diary pages. "It might be better since you know what to look for in here better than I do."

"Alright!" Armando said. "Come on, Anita!" He said to his sister as the two of them raced towards the ladder.

"Wait for me!" Josephine cried.

"No, Josie!" Anita yelled, telling the girl to stay behind. "We don't want you to fall."

Josephine angrily stomped her feet on the ground, but after a few moments began to look around the room she was in. A little bit of the sunlight was shining in through one of the four windows carved into the mud and stone walls. When she saw Abigail standing in the doorway, she quickly waved her hands.

"Dr Chase!" She exclaimed. "Come here!"

"What is it, Josie?"

"Look!" She said, pointing to the four windows. "This was why the Zia was used so many times by the treasure people."

Abigail looked and noticed how the windows were each directly opposite from each other in the center of each wall, all facing the very center of the room.

"They used to say that the number four was very sacred to many tribes out here." Josie pointed out, looking at some small jars lined up alongside the wall. She ran over to examine them while Abigail shined her flashlight onto them. She watched as Josie picked one of them up carefully and examined the pattern painted on the side.

"I think I know this!" Josie said, walking back to Abigail quickly to show her, but trying to be careful as not to drop the jar. "See how these symbols looks almost like smoke?"

"Yeah."

"I think maybe a medicine man may have lived her once, or perhaps a spirit talker." Josie said.

"Do you know what's in that jar?"

"It's a peppery powder which makes fire." Josie said, opening it to release a strong odor coming from a reddish brown powder inside the jar. "My mommy used to tell me that the man using this stuff would throw it into the fire to signal when he needed to speak to the gods."

"Ah, I see." Abigail said, looking back out the window to see Riley and the others catching up to them. There was an abundant source of history within these walls, there was no doubt about that. With her flashlight, Abigail could see woven mats and rugs on the floors and walls, coated with thick and thin layers of dust and soot. She saw the walls were cracked in some areas and pits and pieces had fallen out over the years and now were scattered across the floor. Yet even inside that small hut at the foot of the tall tower, something seemed a bit odd to her. For being trapped within an underground cavern with minimal access to the outside, the air seemed pretty clean.

"Abigail?" A woman's voice asked. Abigail snapped out of her daze and looked to see Emily standing in the doorway. She could see the look on Emily's face, that same glint that she'd had in her eyes when they found Cibola. Although she knew very well that the discovery was bittersweet for Emily. "We've found it."

"Yes." Abigail responded with a hopeful sigh. She looked behind her to see Josephine climbing up the wooden ladder after her brother and sister. "We're almost there."

Emily slowly walked over towards Abigail, where she gently put her arms around her. Emily held her for a few moments, still fighting off the fear and the pain over her son. In some sense, Abigail was doing the same.

"Can you believe we found it?" Anita asked her brother as they looked off a small viewing flat on the third level of the tower.

"No." Armando responded in a shaky tone.

"Do you think they'd be proud?"

"I'm definitely sure they are." Armando responded just before he and his sister shared another hug over the excitement and joy they were experiencing. "Have you seen anything interesting?"

"You bet I have." Anita said, turning to their view of the city. "Look there!" Anita pointed out a large open space in the city, circular in shape. Armando soon came to notice there was a river flowing straight through the city.

"An underground spring?" Armando suggested.

"Let's go and find out!" Anita said. Armando looked again at the sixth clue. The words _tears _and _wash_ made him wonder about that river, and about the open space they went past.

As they climbed back down the ladder, they were both stopped by Josephine on the second level.

"Josephine!" Anita scolded. "Didn't I tell you I wanted you to stay on the ground?"

"But I wanted to see!"

"Well, there's still more to see on the ground." Armando said as he turned his sisters towards the ladder leading downstairs. However, before he even reached the ladder, he heard gunshots being fired outside.

To be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 22: No Reason


	22. No Reason

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 22: No Reason

"Well, It's good to see all of you again." Ian said merrily, appearing in the street amidst the dust kicked up by a stray bullet coming from the gun in his hands. Riley yelped silently and the five of them froze in the silence when in sight of the six men behind the escaped convict. "Enjoy the trip?"

"It was alright." Abigail muttered.

Ian began taking slow steps towards the group. Patrick stepped closer by a few feet, standing in front of Emily.

"Well, you've done it." Ian said, gently clapping his hands. "You've found the Lost City."

"What are you doing here, Ian?" Abigail snapped.

"You know very well what I'm looking for." Ian snapped back. "You should know, since you led me here."

Abigail narrowed her eyes at the one person in the entire world she'd like to bludgeon with a tire iron the most. "What do you mean, we led you here?"

"Alright, that's not exactly a correct statement." Ian snickered. "Thank _YOU _for leading us here."

"What?" Abigail snapped, drawing curious looks from the group. Glancing at them, her eyes next came to fall onto Ben's watch, still on her wrist. "You Bastard."

"Now, now." Ian said, shaing his finger. "Mind your manners."

"Where is he?"

"Who?"

"My Son, You Asshole!" Patrick barked. Emily grabbed his arm, trying to hold him back. The six men following Ian were all holding rifles in hand, which she could barely see in the shadows they stood in. Ian's eyes darted around along the edges of his eyelids. "Oh, you mean Ben." Ian chuckled, walking in a semi-circle as he thought of the adventurous treasure hunter he'd just spent the past ten days with. The others watched as Ian continued to strut down the street towards them. "Let's just say his work is done here."

Abigail's throat tightened with the sound of that statement. With a scoff, Ian continued his barking.

"Did you really think you'd swindle me that easily?" Ian laughed. "Well, If Ben thought he could get away with it, I guess you must have as well." Ian stopped, crossing his arms and directing his sights at the one member of the group he didn't recognize.

"Isn't that right, Agent Androsky?"

Tyler glanced over at Abigail, then turned back to Ian.

"Yes, I know all about the FBI and the "little game" all of you tried to pull off." Ian sneered. "To be honest, it was kind of a let down to me that you'd choose such an obvious route to get here."

"If it was so obvious, then why did it take you so long to get here?" Riley asked, only to be interrupted by the bullet striking the ground only inches from where he stood.

"Silence, Mr. Poole." Ian ordered. "Before I finish what my men started on the Potomac River."

Riley shut up instantly and briefly glanced over at the window of the pueblo tower, where he saw the eyes of a sixteen year old boy looking at him from the second floor.

"Those are the men who came to the house." Armando whispered. Anita glanced out the window at the men holding the others at gunpoint. She gulped a lump of air nervously as she pulled herself back to the floor.

"They're after Sophie's Treasure." Armando whispered to his sisters.

"Are they bad men?" Josephine asked.

"SHHHH!" Anita hissed silently. "Yes!"

"Now, how do we make them go away?" Armando asked himself. Josephine thought to herself for a moment, wondering what they could do, when she noticed she was sitting on a line of small round objects. She reached underneath herself and found another jar, just like the one she had shown Dr. Chase a few minutes before.

"I've got an idea." Josephine whispered.

"Where is Ben." Abigail asked loudly.

"Tell me where the treasure is, and I'll gladly tell you of his location." Ian responded.

"We haven't found anything yet-"

"Didn't I tell you to shut up, Poole?" Ian barked. "I'm not falling for any more goddamn tricks!"

Ian pointed the gun directly at Abigail, his finger on the trigger. "Where is the treasure?"

"_UP HERE!" _A child's voice called from out of the darkness. Ian jumped slightly at the sound, along with two of his men. They all looked around quickly, trying to pinpoint the direction of which the voice was coming from. Abigail looked up and gasped when she saw Josephine standing at the window. "I have the treasure!"

Ian shined his own flashlight on the large window where the voice was coming from. He saw the face of a small girl looking down at him, a small clay pot in her hand.

"I have gold!" Josephine cried, shaking the jar and letting them hear something rattle inside the jar. "and lots of it!"

Ian looked at the pot curiously. "Would you mind letting me see it, child?"

With a small smile, Josephine nodded. "Alright." She said before reaching her arm out the window.

"Wait, stop!" Patrick shouted. Before he even finished his sentence, Josephine dropped the jar from twenty-five feet above. Abigail held her breath as she saw Ian miss it. It struck the ground, imploding upon impact, sending a cloud of red dust into the air, which was followed by shrill screams and cries coming from within it. Suddenly, about a half-dozen similar jars came flying from the window, shattering on the ground below them.

"Mr. Howe?" One of Ian's men barked. He was answered by a high-pitched scream coming from inside the red cloud which was now sweeping over them.

"EAT PEPPER, BARBIE MAN!!!!!!!" Josephine screamed as she and Anita chucked more of the dozens of jars of powders they found in the room of the tower. Before long, the dust had created an ominous cloud of fiery dust hovering over the street, and Ian and his men were nowhere in sight. Abigail and Riley backed away from the dust, Patrick and Emily following.

"What is that stuff?" Tyler whispered as he listened to the screams and screeches of terror and pain coming from inside it.

"It's a medicine man's powder." Armando responded. "Made from all kinds of peppers."

"Clever." Emily said, nodding shakily. "What do we do now?"

Abigail turned to Armando. "Take your sisters and the map." She said. "Find the Treasure."

"What?" Armando asked in a puzzled tone, his sisters appearing at his side.

"There's only two clues left." Abigail said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the small wooden box containing the Dutch knife. "This is the key."

Armando took it in his hands, breathing heavily as he tried to calm himself down.

"This Treasure is for all of you to find." Abigail said, putting her hands on Armando's shoulders and looking at Anita and Josephine. As she spoke, the moaning and groaning coming from Ian and his men grew softer as the cloud of powder began to settle to the ground. "Now go. We'll take care of them."

Armando nodded eagerly as he took his sisters and ran down the alleyway, and out of sight. After watching them disappear from view, Abigail turned back towards Ian, who she could now see appearing out of the dust. She looked at his still figure for a few moments.

"We're going to settle this." Abigail said in a low tone. "Right now."

Patrick looked at her in confusion. "How do you plan on us doing that?"

"Haven't a clue." Abigail said as she turned towards the street, heading away from the group of stunned men lying on the ground. Patrick and Emily scrambled after her, Riley and Tyler following as they heard Ian groaning in pain.

* * *

"What are we looking for?" Anita asked as she hurried behind her brother through the darkness, Josephine in tow.

"The Treasure." Armando responded, showing his sister the copy of diary pages Abigail had given him. "We need to find the Zia's Fountain."

Anita took the diary pages from her brother, reading over the sixth clue. She knew the story of Zia's Fountain very well.

"You know the story better than anybody." Armando said.

"I know that."

"Did the story Mom told you ever say where it was?"

Anita closed her eyes, trying to think back to the story. She remembered her mother telling her of how the Zia's Fountain was said to have special powers, believed to be beneath the eyes of the mother. The eyes of the mother, and she knew the mother usually referred to the sun.

"That clearing we saw from the tower!" Anita whispered. "I could see it because it was _directly _under the sunlight!"

Armando remembered now from what his mother had told him of that story. His eyes quickly darted to the ceiling of the massive cavern. He spotted the ray of light coming from the hole near the center of the ceiling.

"That's it." Armando said as he took off in the direction of where the sun was shining. He could see it was pointing straight down to the ground. They hastily made their way through the dark alleyways, climbing over the piles of debris that had accumulated over the past four centuries. Anita kept glancing down at all the artifacts she saw littered across the ground. She paused for a brief moment when she saw a human skull lying in the door opening of one of the houses.

"Come on!" Armando hissed as he pulled his sisters along towards the path towards the sunlight.

* * *

"AARGH!" Ian groaned and growled angrily as he groped his way towards the faint sound of running water. He crawled on his hands and knees, and could hear the sounds of the grumbling of his men following closely behind. Suddenly, the rock beneath him disappeared and he tumbled face first into the chilly waters of a shallow underground river. He roughly rubbed his hands together before rubbing the powder off of his face and his eyes. His vision cleared just in time to see four of his other men stumble into the water, while the other two were still staggering through the dark street they'd come through. As Ian looked around at the dark silhouettes of the buildings around him, he quietly listened for the sounds of anyone else in the city. Aside from the sound of the water rushing over the rocks and bricks in the river, he heard nothing.

"Take a moment to wash away that blasted powder, then continue the search for them."

"Hey Boss?" One of the men said after rinsing his mouth of the pepper with some water. "We left our guns back at the entrance to the city."

Ian glared back at his hired hand. "You did what?"

"We couldn't carry them!" Another man cried, surfacing after completely submerging himself in water. "Every time you touched anything it hurt like hell with that powder on your skin!"

Ian rolled his eyes and quickly dug his hand into the back pocket of his jeans. He reached around for his cell phone, hoping it didn't get wet. As soon as he found it was dry, he flipped it open and sent a call to the two other men who had been guarding Ben.

"Did you take care of him?" Ian asked.

"_He's all taken care of indeed, sir_."

"Is he unconscious?"

"_Out like a light_." The other man said over the phone. "_It won't be much longer_."

"Excellent." Ian snickered. "Put "_Plan B_" into action."

* * *

The group had split up; Tyler took Patrick and Emily off to the northern edge of the city while Abigail and Riley headed for the south side. Their idea was to keep Ian and his men busy while Armando and the girls searched around for the treasure. Abigail kept going over this plan in her head as she and Riley followed the widest street across to the edge of the city. Before long the ground began to slope and they could see the buildings growing taller and larger as they got closer to the city walls. What astounded Abigail about the city was that it looked as if it had been stricken by some cosmic disaster, as there were numerous skeletons in the huts they'd searched. After seeing each one, Riley bit his lip, trying not to shout. It was down one darkened alley where they uncovered something strange in this hidden city.

"Look at that one." Abigail said suddenly, pointing to a twin-level dwelling hidden in the shadows. "Look at the cloth hanging over the doorway."

As she and Riley got closer to the building, they noticed something rather strange about the curtain which hung over the doorway.

"Can you see it's different?" Abigail asked Riley.

"Yeah." Riley responded. "It's European made."

Abigail took the fabric in her hands gently, hoping it wouldn't com apart. As she touched it, several fine grains of dust and dirt fell to the ground. The fabric was very stiff, as well as very thin.

"This looks like it was made in France." Abigail noted, examining the white cloth with the red patterns sewn into it. To her, there was only one explanation to why a French curtain would be in a lost Navajo City.

"Ben was right." Abigail stated, pushing the curtain aside and shining her flashlight into the room. "These men could very well have been the first Europeans to come in contact with the natives of this region."

As Abigail stepped through the doorway, she could immediately tell the difference between this dwelling and the numerous others they had seen. Their was the faint scent of tobacco and spices in the room, and it was filled with pieces of furniture in the styles which originated from Europe. "This must have been where the Spanish explorers lived while they stayed with the Navajo."

Riley looked at the wooden benches lining the walls, and noticed the woven rug covering the floor. Nearby was a table with several glass bottles sitting on top of it, as well as plates, mugs, and even a water barrel with a spigot sticking out of the lower end of it. Both of them knew very well these were amenities that the Navajo didn't come to posses for themselves until long after the American Revolution. Abigail shined her light on an old ladder ascending through a hole in the ceiling up to the second floor.

"Here, hold that." Abigail ordered, handing Riley her flashlight. "Shine it on the ladder."

Riley lit up the ladder with his flashlight as Abigail slowly climbed up the old, rotten ladder. The wood creaked and strained under her weight, one of the steps snapping in half. As she ascended to the second level, she looked into the room. She saw nothing but darkness. "Here, hand me the light."

Riley tossed her the flashlight and she slowly shined it on the floor of the room around the hole. At first she saw a few things, a few broken bottles lying on the floor, an old brass spittoon, and a metal knife, but she almost jumped right out of her shoes when she suddenly came face to face with somebody looking back at her.

"_Oh GOD." _She hissed, shining the flashlight more onto the face to reveal a human skull lying amidst the dust. Trying to ignore the bones, she continued her climb, fully ascending to the second floor. She shined her light around, finding the room had once been filled with canvas hammocks running across the room, similar to the ones the men probably slept in on their voyage across the Atlantic.

Abigail jumped a second time when she heard the faint echo of a man's voice coming from nearby. She looked down to see Riley quickly turn towards the doorway.

"Oh Shit." Riley hissed under his breath. "They're coming!"

Abigail stared down at him eagerly. "Well don't just stand there, get up here!" She hissed back.

As Riley inched his way up the ladder, Abigail crept to the window and saw three shadows coming up the street in front of the dwelling she and Riley were in. It was Ian and two of his men. As soon as he made it to the second floor, Riley scrambled to Abigail's side by the window. "What are we going to do?"

Abigail glanced back at Riley before losing herself in her own thoughts. She just kept thinking to herself again and again, _What would Ben do?_

She thought for a few moments, recollecting back to when they had found themselves in these predicaments before. When she saw the lights from flashlights come onto the path they had taken, Abigail backed away from the window, pulling Riley with her. She quickly crossed to the other side of the room, where they found another window overlooking something they never expected to find in the city. Abigail and Riley found themselves looking down into a deep, narrow gorge running into the center of the city. It was there that the light bulb inside her head began to flicker on.

"Riley, I've got an idea."

* * *

Meanwhile, back on the northern edge of the city, Ian's four remaining men found themselves following a series of footprints in the dust carefully with a flashlight. They had wandered into a dark street hidden in the shadows of the stone buildings rising over them.

"What kind of shoes do you think these are?"

"I can see one of them are hiking boots." One of the men said, pointing out the shape of a large footprint with rounded square patterns on the sole.

"I think this must be the big guy and the two old people." Another person muttered, pointing out two smaller sets of prints. The one with the flashlight kept looking ahead down the street, each time seeing nothing but clutter. Suddenly, the footprints stopped, blocked by two large wooden beams and debris from a collapsed building blocking the street. The man leading the line signaled for them to pause when he could hear a soft thumping coming from inside a nearby doorway. He crept closer towards the door, as he got closer, he could hear somebody breathing. As he shined the light into the doorway, he could tell somebody was in there.

"I know you're in there!" The man barked, drawing a hunter's knife from his pocket. "Come on out!"

THWACK!

Something came swooping out of the darkness and striking the first man's arm, and within a few seconds he was flying back across the street, where he slammed into the opposing wall. The three other men looked back to see Tyler rushing at them with part of a wooden beam. Before they had time to react, Tyler struck them both in the heads, sending them flying to the ground. The fourth man, a bit smaller than the other three, backed against the wall for a moment before making a break for it in the opposite direction. As he was running, he didn't even notice the thin bungee cord running across the street.

"Woah!" He cried as he tripped over the cord, landing with a loud thud against the rocky surface of the street. With the dust kicked into the air, he felt two pairs of hands pin him to the ground and begin to restrain him with the cord he'd been tripped with. Within thirty seconds, he was strung up like an escaped convict being brought in by the law. Tyler shined his light onto the three other men, finding them to be knocked out cold and groaning in pain. He looked back into the dust and could see the figures of Patrick and Emily in the dust.

"Good job, you two!" Tyler said, listening to the groaning of the man on the ground. Patrick walked closer to Tyler, dusting off his shirt.

"One of the oldest tricks in the book." Patrick laughed. "Still works like a charm."

The two men looked back to Emily as she kneeled down next to their prisoner, and by grabbing a fistful of his hair, turned him onto his back. Switching on her flashlight, she grabbed him by the collar.

"Now you listen to me, you little rat." Emily spat angrily. "You're going to tell me where my son is, or else you're going to find yourself in a lot of discomfort."

The man scoffed at Emily's threat with a small grin. "Whatcha gonna do? Beat me with your cane?"

Emily glared angrily at him, before looking over to Patrick with the kind of look only he could understand. The second he saw the expression on her face, he cracked a smile before turning to Tyler.

"Ty, you might want to cover your ears."

"What? Why?" Tyler asked silently as Patrick pushed his fingertips into his ears. Before Tyler could react, a sharp, ear piercing scream erupted from the darkness, causing him to clutch his ears in pain. The sound was coming from Emily as she let out a loud scream, clicking her tongue wildly as she did so barely two feet away from the man's head. Patrick could hear the man screaming in pain as well as the muffled moans and groans of the men by his feet. He angrily kicked one of them in the stomach while still holding his hands to his ears.

"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!" The man cried loudly. "PLEASE STOP!"

Emily ended her battle cry with a long sigh, breathing heavily for a few moments while continuing to glare at the man.

"Where is he?" She growled. The man paused for a few moments.

"Mr. Howe told us the directions to a location he'd found to bring him. I overheard the directions. Follow the river until you reach the waterfall, and to the left of the falls is where he is."

Gasping haggardly from her scream, Emily stood to her feet. As she looked to Patrick, she knew very well what they could expect. She looked over to Tyler, who was cleaning out his ears with his pinky finger, trying to get his ears to stop ringing.

"Tyler, can you bring him?" Emily asked, pointing to the bound man at her feet. Tyler nodded as he crossed the street and with Patrick's assistance, lifted the man onto his shoulder. As Tyler adjusted his grip on their prisoner, Emily took her flashlight and pointed it directly into his face.

"If I were you, I'd be praying to God that he's still alive." Emily hissed angrily. "Because if he's not, I know of a few people who won't be for very long."

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 23: The Abyss


	23. The Abyss

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 23: The Abyss

_"There's got to be something here."_ Armando thought to himself as he scanned his eyes back and forth across the large, round clearing in the heart of the lost city. _"It has to be here!"_

Anita stood near the center of the circle, looking up at the jagged hole carved into the ceiling of the rock wall. Although it was shrouded in the shadows, she could see that something was rather peculiar about the hole. As she stared at it, she recollected back to something her grandfather had pointed out to her. Most of the rock formations on the uppermost formations of the Grand Canyon was made of sedimentary rock, which appeared to be what a lot of the buildings were made of as well. She remembered his words, as hard as they were to think about, very clearly. He'd said that most of the layers of sedimentary rocks in the Grand Canyon were fairly flat, explanation for the stripes of different colored rocks along the canyon walls. As they had seen from the outside, similar patterns were seen in Twin Butte. So, if she was correct, there was no way that the hole she was looking at could have been formed naturally.

Looking behind her, she slowly began taking steps towards the center of the circle, and within a few moments she began to see that the hole was well defined, contained within one specific layer of the limestone shelf in the body of the mountain. The second she came into view of it, she understood why. Almost immediately, she was blinded by the edge of the sun coming into view of the hole. She snapped her eyes shut, and once her vision cleared, she realized that the hole wasn't in the roof of the cavern; it was in the _side_.

"Josie! Armando!" She hissed, looking around her to see if anybody else was around watching them. As her brother and sister came into view of the sunlight, they came to see it as well. The hole seemed to follow the course of the sun, angled so that sunlight reflected down into the city right on that location. The three of them stood in awe of the spectacle they'd seen.

"Wow." Armando stuttered.

"Okay." Anita said, taking a deep breath. "This _must _be it."

Josephine looked around in a state of confusion. "But where is the fountain?"

"I don't know, Josie." Armando sighed, looking around at the clearing. He looked at his watch, finding it was almost noon. As the minutes ticked by, the sunlight was coming in brighter and stronger. While Armando and Anita looked closer at the hole in the ceiling without blinding themselves, Josephine walked slowly across the center of the opening, directly onto the spot where the sunlight shined onto the ground. As she looked around, she noticed that the four streets leading into the circle all pointed directly where she was standing. She began to see the Zia symbol stamped into the city.

"AAAAH!" Josephine screamed, causing her brother and sister to jump nearly two feet into the air before they turned to see a rather odd and terrifying spectacle. They both froze when they saw that half of their little sister's body had disappeared into the ground.

"Josie!" Anita yelled as she scrambled to her whimpering sister's side. "What happened?"

"I fell through the rock!" Josephine squealed. "There's a big space under my feet!"

Armando gasped as he came to realize what Josephine had stumbled across. "Josie, I need you to stay as still as you can!" He said sternly as he set his backpack down by his side and opened it, pulling out an old paintbrush and a rope. "Anita, take this and brush the dust off this rock, find where the edge is."

Anita nodded as she quickly took the brush and carefully dusted the surface of the rock. Within a few moments, she came to a well-defined edge in the rock, showing a much sandier rock had at one time been placed over what seemed to be a large hole in the ground. One thing she could tell almost immediately about this hole, like the one in the ceiling, was manmade. It was an almost perfect circle carved into the rock. As Anita examined the rock, Armando carefully tied the end of his rope around Josephine's waist. He looped it around her chest twice, under her arms, before tying the other end to his own waist and wrapping the slack around his arm.

"Anita?"

"Yeah?"

"Take this." Armando said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a metal chisel. "Chip away at the rock around her."

"What?" She gasped. "But Armando!"

"We need to get her out!" Armando snapped. "Plus this could lead the way into the treasure."

Anita stared at her brother for a moment before shakily beginning to chip away at the stone around the hole Josephine had fallen into. After a few chips, Anita froze in her tracks as a well defined crack appeared in the rock, followed by another, and then another. Armando and Anita watched in horror as the rock disintegrated and fell into the darkness, taking Josephine with it.

"JOSIE!" They both yelled as Armando tightened his grip on the rope. When it became taut, Armando felt his body jolt as he was almost dragged into the hole after his sister. Anita pounced onto his back as they both froze, their eyes fixed onto the line of rope descending into the darkness.

"Josie?" Anita asked nervously. There was just silence for a few moments.

"_WOW!"_ Her voice said, an echo trailing.

"Josie? Are you alright?" Armando asked eagerly. "Answer me!"

"Hey, you guys!" Josie's voice squeaked from beneath them. "I'm in another room!"

Armando looked over the edge and saw his sister hanging from the rope, about five feet below them. When he looked past her, he and Anita saw they were looking down into another underground cavern. They saw four waterfalls cascading down the edges of the circular cavern, all pouring into a large pool at the bottom of the cavern, fifty or sixty feet beneath them.

"Armando!" Josie cried.

"Hold on, kiddo." Armando hollered. "I'm going to pull you up."

"You don't need to!" Josie said. Armando and Anita looked at their sister curiously for a few moments, but then discovered there was a rock bridge crossing the cavern, only a few inches beneath Josephine's feet. "Lower me down!"

Armando carefully let out some slack on his rope, praying she wouldn't fall. As he lowered her, her sneakers came to a rest on the ground. She crouched down as low as she could before fumbling to untie the rope around her. While Armando watched her, Anita noticed that there was a step carved into the edge of the circle. She took Armando's flashlight and when she lit up the side of the mouth of the hole, she found there was a staircase carved into the rock, winding it's way in a spiral down the edge of the cavern. When seeing this, Armando simply let the rope slide from his hands and fall to Josephine. He quickly collected his things before he and Anita took off down the staircase after their little sister. She was eagerly waiting for them, as she could see there was a path leading down into Zia's fountain. Each taking Josephine by the hand, Armando and Anita began the descent down into the cavern. Armando looked in amazement at the four majestic waterfalls, all combining into one at the bottom of the fountain. After a few minutes, they came to a stop at the edge of a clear pool of water, beneath the thundering falls.

"Armando! Anita!" Josephine squealed. "Look!"

Armando and Anita looked behind them to something Josephine was pointing to on the wall. In the sunlight, the three of them could see the distinct shape of another serpent carved into the rock. Armando quickly pulled out the diary pages, trying desperately not to get them wet. As he looked at the seventh clue, he read it aloud to his sisters.

_In the shadows of the serpent's keep,  
__The treasure lies in peaceful sleep.  
__The serpent guards her night and day,  
__Only by Zia's hand does the serpent stray. _

"Serpent?' Anita asked worriedly. "There's a snake down here?"

Josephine squealed and quickly clung to her sister's side. Armando shined his light around, and within a few moments noticed something rather odd about the water. He quickly reached into his pocket for something to put in the water, only finding a piece of lint. He dropped it into the water, and sure enough it began to move. He followed it with his flashlight as it floated away from them and into the darkness. Armando lifted his flashlight and discovered a large tunnel in the side of the cavern, the water flowing down it.

"Ladies," Armando announced. "It looks like we're going swimming."

"What?" Anita asked, looking at her brother as if he was crazy. "But we don't even know where it goes!"

"And what about the snake!" Josephine cried, still clinging to Anita's side. Armando crouched down to her level and put his hands on her shoulders.

"There is no snake." Armando said. "Do you remember the story grandpa told us? About the Flaming Serpent?"

Josephine nodded.

"The river is described as being a serpent, remember?"

"Oh!" Josephine said slowly after thinking for a moment. "So that river leads to the treasure?"

"I think so." Armando said to her. "And there's only one way to find out."

"But Armando," Josephine said in a low voice. "I can't swim."

"I'll carry you on my back."

"Armando?" Anita asked in a low tone. Armando looked over to his sister, who was pointing down at her striped skirt. Armando scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"You really need to start wearing jeans, you know that." He snapped as he set his backpack down on the rocks. He unzipped his backpack and reached in, pulling out an old pair of jeans for her. "Put those on."

Anita snatched them, but paused for a moment, waiting for him to turn around. He turned away, closing his eyes for a few moments while she changed. When she was done, he turned to see her stuffing her skirt into his backpack. He snickered at the sight of her trying to roll up the pant legs, because he was so much taller than her.

"Alright, come on." Armando said, putting the diary pages back in the plastic bag and putting them into his backpack. He was happy he had a waterproof backpack, because if needed it could work as a flotation device for Josephine. He stepped into the water, Josephine behind him. After a few feet the cold water was already waist deep. He scooped up Josephine and put her on his back, while she wore the backpack with the straps tightened as far as they would go. As Anita followed, Armando gently stepped into the current of the river, which was up to his chest at it's deepest point. He looked behind to see Anita swimming along in the current, stepping on the rocks when she found some to stand on. After about forty feet or so, they were stopped at a dead end. Eyebrow raised, Armando shined his flashlight onto the wall blocking their path. Beneath the water, he could faintly see light shining into the water inside what looked like a small underwater cave.

"Here, wait here." Anita said, motioning for Armando to wait with Josephine while she swam underwater into the cave. Armando held his flashlight underwater, hoping to illuminate her path. As he watched her disappear, he waited in the silence for a few moments, holding his breath and praying she'd come back. His heart leapt into his throat when he saw her straggling to come back. He reached into the water and helped her to the surface. As she cleared her lungs, she told him what she found.

"There's another cavern up ahead." She said, breathing deeply. "About ten feet."

"Alright." Armando said, nodding.

"I'll take Josie in." Anita said, pulling Josephine from his back and removing his backpack from her shoulders. "You bring the pack."

"But Anita-"

"Armando, I'm a better swimmer than you, so I'll bring her." Anita snapped. He watched quietly as she had Josephine hold her breath before they both disappeared beneath the surface and into the cave. Armando grabbed his backpack and followed them as fast as he could. Using his flashlight to follow his sister, he soon came into view of another cavern, with a faint ray of light shining into it. When he came to the surface next to his sister, he was puzzled to find the river had come to a dead end.

"Is this it?" Josephine asked as she tried to catch her breath. "Is it here?"

"I don't know." Armando said, struggling to stay afloat in this area, as the water was much deeper. He saw Anita swimming in the direction of a large circular stone in the center of the cavern, which was only about two feet underwater. After she set Josephine onto it, she reached out for Armando. As he took her hand, he kicked furiously towards the rock. As they climbed up, they looked around curiously, wondering why the water had stopped. Armando shined his light down into the water. The bottom of the cavern, unlike the one they'd come into, was littered with rocks. After a moment, something in the water caught his eye. As he looked closer, he could spy a foreign object sitting on the bottom. Without saying a word, he simply stepped off the rock and disappeared into the water.

"Armando!" Anita cried. She and Josephine watched worriedly as they followed their brother's light as he dove to the bottom of the cavern. After about twenty seconds, he quickly ascended to the surface, clinging onto the rock as he climbed back on. In his hand was a rather peculiar object.

"What is that?" Anita asked. Armando held the object into the light, revealing it as a thin cylinder with burn marks on it as well as a red coloring.

"It's an explosive." Armando stated to his sisters. "Somebody was down here recently trying to blow something up."

"How can you tell it was recently?" Anita asked.

"It's still hot."

Josephine looked to her feet for a moment, to see if her favorite shoes were still on her feet. When she did, she let out a low gasp when she saw what they were standing on.

"Look!" She exclaimed to her siblings, pointing down into the water. They looked down and were all taken back by the symbol carved into the large circular stone they were standing on.

"It's the Zia symbol." Armando stated. Anita held her hand to her mouth as she gasped. They were getting closer. As Armando kneeled down to see the symbol closer, he suddenly noticed a small droplet of liquid drop in front of his flashlight. He looked over towards where it had landed in the water, and noticed that whatever the liquid was, it was red. A few seconds later, Anita noticed a drop of red appear on Josephine's princess t-shirt.

"_What is that_?" Armando thought to himself. He looked at his sisters, and before long they began to notice that amidst the light shining into the cavern from above, there was a rather peculiar shaped shadow cast over them.

Slowly, the three of them looked up, and froze in fear at what they saw.

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 24: Revelations


	24. Revelations

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 24: Revelations

Abigail quickly tied the rope to the post she found sticking out of the house of the Spanish explorers. With Riley behind her, she slowly began to inch her way across the narrow post.

"Riley, whatever you do, don't look down." Abigail whispered as she pulled herself along.

"Too Late." Riley wheezed nervously as he tried to keep up with her. Abigail focused her sights on the other end of the post, which was atop another building on the opposite end of the deep gorge they were hovering over. Riley watched nervously as a few splinters were scraped off the post by his foot and fluttered down lightly into the darkness. Riley gulped as his throat tightened in fear. As they scooted their way along, Abigail's heart leapt into her throat when she heard voices behind her.

"_They're up here, boss!"_

"_Wait a moment with the ladder, no, one at a time!"_ Abigail snickered lightly as she heard the three men falling to the ground in the house after the ladder collapsed. She began to pick up her pace as she heard them climbing to the second floor. "Riley, Hurry!"

They were both about two-thirds of the way over when a light was shined on them.

"And where do you think you two are going?" Someone snapped in a British accent. Abigail looked back to see Ian standing at the end of the beam.

"Away from you, Blondie!" Abigail barked back as she gently climbed off the post and stepped onto the roof of the adjacent dwelling.

"The nerve!" Ian said with a scoff. He snapped his fingers at his two helpers. "Fetch!"

Riley looked behind him to see Ian's two thugs coming after him on the post.

"Riley, come on!" Abigail shouted, reaching her hand out to her friend as the two men began to balance across the beam.

"Oh God, Oh God, Oh God." One of the men kept muttering as Riley kept scooting.

"_Oh God, I'm gonna die." _Riley thought to himself as he scooted as fast as he could. He paused briefly in his own thoughts when a distinct odor came to his nostrils. He grasped Abigail's hand and she helped him onto the roof of the other building just as Ian began to cross after them.

"Hold it!" Abigail screamed, standing firmly at the other end of the post. The three men stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of the brunette giving them a glare which gave them goosebumps.

"I've got a score to settle with you, Ian Howe." Abigail growled. "I've got a score to settle with ALL of you!"

The three men stood in silence as they watched her let a small metal canister fall to her feet. Ian slowly shined his flashlight onto it, revealing it to be a small canister of hairspray. Ian looked back up at Abigail, freezing in breath when he saw a lit match in her hand.

"Let this be a lesson to you, Ian Howe." Abigail spat. "NOBODY messes with our nation's history."

Ian's eyes widened as he saw the match fall from her fingers and land atop the post. Almost instantly, a wave of fire swept across the post, engulfing Ian's two men and causing him to leap backwards, back onto the roof. Ian watched in horror as one man fell from the log instantly, while the other managed to remain on the post long enough, screaming out in pain before finally falling from the post, his burning clothes illuminating his path of descent into the darkness. Ian's wide eyes looked back to Abigail, and he was shocked to see that she hadn't even budged. Her eyes hadn't even budged. He watched as she took another bottle of hairspray from her pocket, handing it to Riley.

"You want to do the honors?"

"It's be my pleasure." Riley said, his voice becoming low and stern as he stepped up to the plate, referring to the end of the post. Ian froze on the ledge he was standing on, his back against the wall, shaking as he saw Riley stand at a quarter-angle to the post, the bottle in his hand. Riley clasped both of hands together, around the bottle, before raising both hands above his head, gearing up for the pitch. He stood still and in silence for a few moments, glaring angrily at Ian through the flames from the post. He thought of all the suffering Ian had forced onto them, onto Patrick and Emily, and most of all, onto Ben. The thought of the man he'd called brother since the age of fifteen being in the amount of pain Riley could barely imagine Ben being in made his heart pound in his chest like a burly lumberjack's axe striking a tree's trunk. He could feel the stitches around the bullet wound in his arm pinch at a few nerves and he could feel the thick bandages cutting off blood to his hand. He breathed heavily through his teeth.

"GRRRAAAHH!" Riley roared as he swung his arm violently in a large circle, releasing the full bottle at a downwards angle. It struck the flaming post about three feet from Ian, where it exploded right after bouncing into the air, sending a monstrous fireball flying directly at Ian.

A blood-curdling scream erupted from the flaming man on the opposite side of the gorge as Abigail and Riley both stood and watched Ian roll around on the ground violently, still screaming at the top of his lungs. Abigail and Riley stood and watched for a few moments before a red flash from across the city caught their eyes. They both looked to see the bright red flame from a signal flare gun shoot into the sky.

"Come on." Abigail said, pulling Riley away from the flames of the post. "That's Tyler and the others."

"Do you think they found him?"

"I hope so."

"Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"Where'd you learn to pitch like that?"

"Ben taught me."

* * *

"Armando!" Anita cried as she shined her own flashlight onto the person hanging from above them "Who is that?"

"It's Ben Gates!" Armando shouted, staring up at Ben's silhouette. He saw Ben hanging from a series of chains wrapped around his body. His arms were behind his back, and his legs were bent back at his knees. His head hung limply, blood dripping slowly from two wounds on his forehead. Armando looked as he followed the path of the chains, all winding up the chain leading from the center of his back, where his hands and feet were bound together, and where he was hanging from. He was handing face-down above the water, tilted slightly down by the head.

"Mr. Gates!" Armando called. "Can you hear me?"

"_Armando_?" Patrick called from above. "_Is that you_?" Armando stood back and looked up to the top of the cylindrical cavern they were in. He could just barely see Patrick's head sticking out over the opening.

"We found him!" Armando shouted.

"We know! We know!" Patrick shouted back. Far above, Patrick was looking down a jagged hole near the edge of the river, Emily and Tyler beside him. Emily was on her hands and knees, glaring down the hole at the still figure which she knew was her long lost son. Tears flowed from her eyes as she cried out.

"I'm here, Ben!" She cried. "I'm coming!"

"_Patrick! Emily!"_ A woman's voice came from behind them. Patrick looked back to see Abigail and riley running towards them. "We took care of Ian-"

"WE FOUND HIM!" Patrick barked, his breathing heavy and labored. Abigail shuddered briefly in tension as she scrambled to the hole they were all looking down.

"_Oh God_." Riley hissed as he flew to Abigail's side. They both looked down and could see with their flashlights Ben's still figure hanging in his chains.

"Armando and the girls are beneath him." Patrick said.

"What?" Abigail exclaimed, looking again to see the three of them standing in the water beneath Ben. "Ben!"

Tyler tried desperately to pull Ben up by the chain he was hanging from, but it wouldn't budge. It was as if he was anchored in place by something. Tyler took his flashlight and shined it down towards where Ben was hovering above the water. Armando looked as well in the light and saw there were four more chains holding Ben into place, each one anchored into the rock wall from a different direction.

"What are we going to do?" Anita cried. She looked to her feet nervously, trying to think. When she did this, however, she soon came to realize _why _he was chained in place.

"Armando!" Anita said to her brother in a shaky tone. "Look!"

Armando looked to his sister as she pointed to the rocky wall of the cavern. After a few moments, they saw what was going on. Armando looked back to the burnt explosive he'd found.

"HELP!" They both yelled upwards. "The water's rising!"

"Oh, dear God." Abigail's eyes widened when she learned what they had planned for him; they were trying to drown him. She quickly glanced behind her and saw one of the building on the edge of the street they were on had a large wooden post sticking out the adjacent side, about fifteen feet away.

"Tyler!" Abigail said quickly, taking off her backpack. "Do you have those ropes still?"

"Yeah."

"I need to get down to him."

"Hold on a moment." Tyler interrupted. "I think I should do this one."

"You need to be up here to pull the kids out." Abigail told him. "I can get to Ben."

"By yourself?" Tyler asked nervously.

"Of course not." Riley added. "I'm going with her."

Tyler paused for a moment before releasing a ragged sigh and reaching into his backpack, pulling out four bundles of white ropes.

"Hold on, kids!" Patrick called down nervously, trying to resist the urge to leap down the hole to his son. "They're coming for you."

Abigail and riley both knotted the 60-foot lines around their waists as hard as they could. Tyler tied the other ends to the post Abigail pointed out. When it was all tied and ready, Abigail pulled all the slack from the rope up and wrapped it around her arm. With both hands clasped around the rope, she carefully lowered herself over the edge. After descending a few feet, she looked up and saw Riley following her precariously. Within a few moments, Riley had already passed her and was on his way down towards Ben. After barely two minutes, Riley was hanging level with his lost friend, who was only about six or seven feet from the water. As he slowly lowered himself down to the kids, he never took his eyes off Ben. He'd never seen him in such terrible shape; it looked like he'd been to hell and back. He momentarily took his eyes off Ben and focused on getting Armando and the girls to safety.

"Riley!" Armando exclaimed. "We found the seventh clue!"

"That's great." Riley answered, lowering himself into the water. "But the treasure will have to wait. We need to get you guys out of here." Riley quickly untied the rope from his waist and took the end in his hands, tying it around Josephine's waist. "Tyler! I've got Josie on my line! Pull her up!"

After a few seconds, Josephine began rising from the water and up to the top of the cavern, her hands clenched around the rope. As Riley watched Josephine ascend to safety, He also saw Abigail touch down into the water.

"Anita, you're next." Abigail told the girl, who was now in water almost up to her throat. Once Josephine had been safely pulled to the top of the cavern and onto the surface above, Abigail helped Anita tie the rope around her own waist. A few moments later, Tyler and Patrick began pulling Anita out of the cavern. Riley watched as Tyler dropped his line back down, calling for them to send Armando up.

"I'm staying." Armando declared. "I'm going to help."

Not having the time or the patience to argue, Abigail and Riley both reluctantly allowed the boy to stay. After that decision was made, Abigail stared back up at Ben, just as terrified by the sight of his condition as Riley was.

"We need to break the chains securing him to the wall." Armando stated, trying to reach for one of them. With the water almost up to his chest now, Riley stepped from the submerged round stone they had been standing on and swam over to the rock wall. Clinging to the rough surface, he climbed three or four feet before grabbing the chain in his hand. As he hung from it, he soon saw that a metal hook had been drilled into the rock, which was what the chain was hooked to. Hanging onto the chain with one hand, he took his flashlight in the other hand and with his legs now in the water, he shined his light onto where the other three chains were hooking into the rock. He saw three more hooks drilled into the rock, just like the first one. "It looks like somebody really put some thought into this." Riley said, bitterly thinking of Ian.

"I'm positive they did." Armando commented as he hung from the chain on the other side of Ben, opposite to Riley. "Somebody was down here with explosives."

"WHAT?" Abigail and Riley both said at the same time. They looked as Armando pulled the burnt explosive from his pocket.

"They must have dammed up the river so the cavern would flood." Armando said.

Quickly focusing back to Ben, and now with more urgency, Riley and Armando set off to try to pry the chains off the hooks. Meanwhile, while the water was rising, Abigail floated beneath Ben.

"Ben?" Abigail called. "Can you hear me?"

He said nothing. Fearing the worst, Abigail quickly began to reach for one of the other chains which held him in the center of the cavern. By that point, the water was less than four feet beneath Ben. Reaching the side of the cavern first, she stepped up on a rock protruding from the wall to boost herself high enough to grasp one of the chains. Hanging with her hands above her head, Abigail pulled herself up and hooked her legs around the chain before horizontally climbing the chain towards Ben. She stopped just a few inches from his face, where she could see the fullest extent of the torture he must have gone through. She first placed her hand onto his throat, feeling for a pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found one, but it was faint. She then drew her hand over his mouth and nose to feel if he was breathing. When her hand touched his face, she quickly withdrew it when she saw his eyes twitch.

"Ben?" Abigail asked softly. She watched hopefully as his eyes slowly slid open.

"Ben, it's me." Abigail said, holding her hand to his face. "It's Abigail."

"_Abigail_." Ben said weakly, trying to keep his eyes open.

"It's alright, Ben." Abigail said. "We're going to get you out of here."

"_The treasure."_ Ben said. _"Did you find the treasure?"_

Abigail rolled her eyes at his focus of attention. "We're close to it."

"_Did Ian find it?"_

"No." Abigail stated firmly. "We made sure of that."

Abigail's eyes narrowed as she noticed he was having a hard time breathing. "Ben?"

Ben gently lifted his head to look at her, wincing as Riley took a gentle tug at one of the chains.

"Can you breathe?"

Ben paused a moment before gently shaking his head. "_Can't move_." He said softly, coughing gently. "_Really tight_."

Abigail quickly pressed the palm of her hand against Ben's chest, reaching out her arm. She found a series of chains wrapped tightly around his chest, constricting his breathing. This only made her angrier with the bastards who had done this to him. It had been planned so that he'd not only drown, but he'd slowly suffocate beforehand, making the process _very_ slow and painful. Abigail's face turned sheet white in terror as she hung from the chain, stunned. Ben was dying.

"RILEY!" Abigail snapped. "We need to get him out of here, NOW!"

"I'm working on it!" Riley hissed as he struggled to unhook the taut chain from the hook in the rock. Armando did the same on the opposite side. "Wait a minute."

"What?" Armando asked. He watched as Riley dropped into the water, which was now less than two feet below Ben and Rising fast. He swam over to the hook holding onto the chain next to the one Armando was hanging from. "Armando, we're both going to try to pull Ben this way." Riley instructed. "We might be able to get just enough slack to unhook the chains."

Armando nodded as they both positioned themselves against the rock. Riley took the hook in one hand, and the chain in the other. As Armando did the same, Riley glanced over at Abigail.

"Come on, Ben!" Riley shouted to his friend. "We need you to fight now, alright?"

Abigail looked at Riley for a few moments, remembering that night on the Potomac River when Riley had looked death straight in the face. She recollected her words from that night, hoping she could use them to encourage Ben to hold on. "Riley's right, Ben." Abigail said, her lip quivering from the cold water and her terrified state of mind. "I know that you're tired, but I know you can beat this!"

Riley looked at Armando, motioning for them both to give a large heave at the chains on the count of three.

"Look, Ben." Abigail said, trying to keep Ben focused. "If you can survive jumping from the deck of an aircraft carrier, this should be easy!"

"Yeah!" Riley added, giving small tugs in the counting process in correspondence with Armando. "Not to mention escaping a flooded underground cavern!"

"Come on, Ben!" Abigail shouted again, glancing at Riley eagerly. "You can do this."

"NOW!" Riley barked as he and Armando gave an enormous tug at the chains they were at. Abigail gasped as she saw Ben's eyes snap shut and him clench his teeth together, groaning in pain. Abigail held her breath as she saw the two chains come loose and fall to the water, which was now only three inches from Ben's face. Abigail floated beneath him, her fingers grasping one of the chains crossing his shoulders. As Riley and Armando paddled across the cavern, Abigail swam as close to Ben as she could, her head protruding from the water right beside his.

"_Abigail."_ Ben whispered softly, the last of his energy running out.

"It's going to be alright, Ben." Abigail said in a shaky tone. "You're going to get out of here."

Ben mustered every ounce of strength he could find in his body to lift up his head to look at her. Abigail stopped dead in her thoughts when she saw his pale face. Through the look in his eyes, she could see his time was almost gone.

"_It's alright, Abigail." _He whispered. _"I'm not scared. I never was."_

"Ben." Abigail said softly, her eyes swelling with tears. "I can't do this without you."

"_You made it all this way on your own."_ Ben said, blinking twice as he tried to stay awake just a little bit longer. _"You can do this."_

Abigail looked at him in silence, to scared and hurt and angry to speak. How could this be happening? He never did anything to deserve this, none of them did; Tyler didn't, Armando and Anita and little Josephine didn't, and Sophie didn't. It wasn't fair. _It just wasn't fair. _

"We've almost got it!" Riley said loud enough for Tyler and the others to hear him from up above. When he looked at Abigail, his smile faded almost instantly.

"_You were the best treasure I ever found."_ Ben whispered with a ragged breath before his head fell limply into the water. Abigail floated in utter shock and silence as she heard the last two chains fall into the water. She began to drift away from him after a few seconds.

"Ben." She said aloud, trying to swim back to him. She watched as the water washed over his body, a few bubbles of air escaping from beneath the water. "BEN!"

"Oh, Jesus." Riley gasped when he saw what was going on. "PULL HIM UP!" Riley shouted as loud as he could. "HURRY!"

Riley watched as the chain lowered a few feet first, dropping Ben deeper into the water before quickly rising. Together with Abigail, he watched as Ben was lifted from the water and up the cavern.

Tyler's arms strained under the immense weight of the still figure hanging from the chain below him. Patrick was behind him, still trying to help pull at the chain. Emily stood off to the side, trembling violently while trying to keep Anita and Josephine back. She was paralyzed in fear, unable to move an inch. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Tyler and Patrick saw a hand reach up from inside the hole in the ground. They were stunned to see Abigail climb over the edge, having climbed all the way up the rope alongside Ben. Exhausted, she collapsed momentarily while Tyler and Patrick inched their way to the edge of the hole to pull Ben out of the hole and onto solid ground. As Tyler rolled Ben's still figure onto the solid rock, Patrick froze. He could feel his chest tighten as Tyler gently held his hand to Ben's face.

"He's not breathing." Tyler stated silently, hoping Emily wouldn't hear him. When he looked over at her, he knew it wouldn't have mattered if she'd heard him or not. He then turned to see Abigail scramble to his side.

"Is he?" She asked haggardly. Tyler paused for a few moments, moving his hand around Ben's throat, praying there would be something there, something that told him that Ben was still there.

"He's still here!" Tyler hissed, his hand finding a soft pulse. It was weak, and growing weaker. There wasn't much time. Tyler and Abigail gently rolled Ben onto his stomach, Tyler reaching into his backpack. He quickly pulled out a small tool case, only about the size of some of the many small purses Abigail owned. She watched as he pulled out a rather large pair of wire cutters. She watched in amazement as he clipped away at the handcuffs and all the chains. As each one broke, it would snap in the opposite direction out of the tension because they had been clipped together so tightly.

"Be careful." Tyler said, looking at Ben's arm carefully. "His shoulder is dislocated."

As they rolled him onto his back, Abigail couldn't help but pause for a moment when she took a good look at his face. His forehead was pretty banged up, streaks of dried blood running down his face. There were scrapes and bruises along his jaw and one of his eyes was blackened. Barely hesitating a moment, she began to perform CPR on him. She blew air into his lungs, pulled back to watch his chest slightly go up and down, then proceed to press her palms into his chest, trying to get him breathing. As Abigail worked, Patrick stood in silence, stunned by what he was witnessing. He took slow, deep breaths, still trying to understand how this could have happened. He felt someone's hand touch his shoulder, and he turned to see Emily behind him. He quickly took her in his arms and they stood together, watching their son fight for his life.

Tyler looked at his watch, knowing if they didn't get him breathing soon, he'd be dead within a few minutes. Abigail passed air into his lungs for the sixth time, pressing five times into his chest before repeating the cycle. Seven times, eight, nine, ten, and on and on. As the seconds ticked by, she began trembling when she saw he wasn't responding.

"Abigail," Tyler said, reaching for her arm. "He's gone."

"No, he's not." She snapped at him, continuing into the sixteenth cycle. After a few moments, as hard as she fought against the thought, she soon came to realize he was dead. Behind her, Riley ascended from the hole in the ground, helping Armando up after him. Armando raced over to his sisters, who wrapped their arms around him as they stood together, dripping wet, in front of the _second_ death they'd witnessed in the past 36 hours. Josephine buried her face in Armando's shirt while Anita rested her head against Armando's shoulder, her hand clasped to her mouth.

Abigail let her arms fall limply to her side. Breathing heavily, she looked at Patrick and Emily with a pale face. Patrick looked at her, slowly shaking his head. Before he could even speak, he felt his wife crumble from his arms to the ground. He crouched down to hold her as she sobbed terribly, shaking violently. Tyler stared at Ben, not moving an inch. When Riley saw tears rolling down the security agent's face, he knew his best friend and brother was gone. Riley felt his knees buckle as he shuffled to Abigail's side. He saw as she slowly hunched over Ben's body, shuddering as tears began to fall from her eyes. She gently collapsed onto his chest, sobbing profusely for a few moments. Riley felt numb, unable to do anything but stare at them. They'd been too late.

As Abigail cried, she thought to herself of everything she'd been wanting to tell him since he'd left them back east. Every word and gesture made the pain inside her hurt even worst. She closed her eyes, praying this was all just a bad dream.

* * *

Ben could barely feel his face move as he struggled desperately to open his eyes. It felt like somebody had coated his face with plaster, making it heavy and unmovable. He could have sworn he'd heard voices softly floating around him in the darkness, but they had gone now. There was just silence and darkness. Slowly, after a few moments, the numbness of his face lifted and he slowly opened his eyes. At first things were even darker, but slowly the pitch black space he was looking into faded into a dull gray, soon giving way to a gray, hazy mist. As his vision cleared, he struggled lift his head up, hoping to see where he was. All around him, nothing could be seen but mist. It didn't take him long to figure out what had happened. After staring hopelessly for a few moments, he let his head fall back to the surface he was laying on and closed his eyes. He'd really screwed up this time.

"_I blew it." _He thought to himself. "_I really blew it_."

His mind kept repeating back everything that had happened in the past twelve days or so. What the hell happened? Had he really been that stupid, that selfish? He kept thinking back to every second of every day, thinking,

"_What could I have done differently?"_

This thought was not new to him. He thought back to his days in school, when he'd be picked on by the other kids because he didn't fit into the crowd. He'd always kept his nose in a book or doodled away at a puzzle in a newspaper. He thought of the split lips, the black eyes, and the bloody noses he'd gotten, all the times the teachers had just dumped him with the school counselor. He thought of the times his parents had to come in to speak with his teachers. Back then they were already at each other's throats, and his own problems didn't do anything to help the matter. Aside from Riley, Ben had never let anyone become friends very long, because usually whenever he made a friend, the scorn that came with his last name would turn them against him. He hated to admit it, but there had been times in his earlier years where he wished he could be somebody else.

"_Everybody wishes that in their lives at least once." _A woman's voice whispered from out of the silence. Ben's eyes shot open and he slowly lifted his head up. He was startled almost out of his skin when he saw a shadow standing over him. He yelled out in fear, scrambling like a spider backwards to get away from whoever or whatever was standing over him. In the moving mist, the wind blowing his hair, he soon came to see the shape of the shadow give way to the image of a young girl. She had familiar blonde pigtails and wore an old violet-purple dress. She looked so familiar to him that it almost scared him.

"You're-" Ben stammered. "Y-Y-You're"

"Correct, Benjamin." The girl responded. "I'm Sophie Hughes."

Ben blinked his eyes furiously, wondering if he was hallucinating or something. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been here for a long time." Sophie responded gently. "I've been waiting for you."

"Waiting for me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"He told me you'd be coming." She said with a soft smile. "He knows what you did to honor me and my family."

Ben stared at her momentarily, trying to find the words to say while still wondering if he'd completely lost his mind. He watched as she walked over to him, with each step she seemed to glide across the ground as if she was wearing ice skates. She stood before him and crouched down, sitting on the ground in front of him.

"It's complicated." Sophie tried to explain. "God knows when each person's time to come home is, and he watches carefully to make sure that each person he sent has finished their tasks before coming back."

Ben nodded slightly, trying to understand what was going on. "A lot of people seem to believe that."

"They are correct." Sophie responded. "Death is meant to be his word sent to those who are left behind, as the form of humility, respect, and understanding of the real purpose of life."

Ben nodded again. _"That definitely explains a lot_."

"I spoke with your friend." Sophie said. "He was here not that long ago."

Ben felt his body freeze when he heard those words come from her mouth. "Riley?"

Sophie nodded. "He was gravely injured by another person looking for the treasure. I saw him four times."

Ben felt his body go numb when he began to understand what he was saying. He could have sworn he'd heard riley's voice in the cavern, but that might not have been him.

"Riley's dead?"

Sophie shook her head. "It wasn't his time yet." She said with a smile. "He still has a lot to finish."

Ben rested back on his hands gently as Sophie rose to her feet. "You still have a lot to finish as well."

Ben shook his head for a moment, blinking a few times, wondering if he heard her right. "What?"

"You're going back." Sophie said, looking Ben straight in the eyes. "There's still more for you to do."

Ben looked behind him, and all around him. "I don't know how." He said softly. In his denial, he thought of Abigail, and how much she must have been suffering at that moment. He felt a tear fall from his left eye onto his sleeve. He'd give anything to see her again, even just for one second.

"You held on for her." Sophie said. "If it hadn't been for your love for her, you probably would have been here long ago."

Deep down, Ben knew she was right.

"You were going to give your life for her at one time, I remember." Sophie said, reminding Ben of the cavern beneath Cibola, and Mitch Wilkinson. "In the Lord's eyes, the sacrifice made out of pure love is the most favored of all."

Ben watched silently as Sophie held up the palm of her hand, drawing it towards his forehead.

"You must not tell anyone of our meeting." Sophie said. "Only the lost ones can know."

When he felt her touch his forehead, the mist around him seemed to swallow him hole and in an instant, everything drew back to the darkness.

* * *

Abigail rested her head on his chest for what seemed like hours, but in reality had only been two or three minutes. Gently and softly, clearing his throat, Riley put his hand on her shoulder.

"Abby." Riley said softly. "Come on."

Abigail gently pulled away from him. Before she did, a soft murmur caught her attention. She glanced around quickly, before she realized that it had come from Ben.

"Hold on a second." Abigail said softly, drawing closer to Ben's face. "Ben?"

Riley sighed at her remark, thinking she was still in denial. Emily glanced over as Abigail put her face right in front of Ben's. She jumped slightly when his body gave a slight jolt, and she was only three inches from Ben's face when a spray of water came shooting from Ben's nose and mouth, and right into Abigail's face. She snapped her eyes closed as the water struck her face, and a moment later used her fingers to clear the waters from her eyes. As she opened her eyes, she both watched and listened as he took a long, deep breath. Abigail's mouth hung open and her eyes widened, Tyler and Riley looking with the same expression.

"Oh, my God." She gasped softly. "He's Alive!"

Emily gasped loudly and deeply as she broke away from Patrick, scrambling over to her son's side. Patrick was not far behind her, and Armando and the girls scrambled over to see what had just happened. Abigail looked into Ben's face, focusing on his gently closed eyes.

"Ben?"

Abigail watched as his eyes twitched gently, and after a few moments they slowly slid open. Abigail stared in shock as he blinked a few times, clearing his vision. She said nothing, all she did was wrap her arms around his shoulders and hold onto him tightly as she sobbed into his chest. Within a few moments, he gently lifted his arms and held her as well, no matter how badly his right arm hurt.

"Abigail." He whispered, capturing her attention. There was something he'd been wishing to say to her for over a week now. "I Love You."

She wiped her tears away, gently holding the side of his face with her hand. "I Love You, too."

Abigail looked up and saw Tyler staring in disbelief for a few moments before motioning to pop his shoulder back into place. Within a few moments, the group heard a sickening crunch as Tyler pressed Ben's arm back into its socket. After a few more moments of deep breathing to adjust to his arm's position, Ben looked up at Riley.

"Hey, man." Riley said, blinking to keep his eyes from watering. "You're alright."

Ben reached out for Riley's hand, which Riley let him grip tightly in his fist. "You're a Good Man, Riley Poole."

Riley snickered at the remark and after a few moments he released Ben's hand. Ben turned to see Emily coming towards him, her eyes red and her face haggard. She slowly embraced her son in her arms. She didn't say anything; she didn't need to. The amount of time she held him for was enough. Once she slowly pulled away, Patrick took his son's hand in his own and held it tightly.

"Benjamin Franklin, I swear to God you're going to be the end of me."

Ben chuckled softly at his father's remark. After releasing his father's hand, he looked up to Tyler, then over to Armando and the girls.

"I can see we've got quite a party here."

"Oh, of course." Abigail said, shaking her head to snap out of the daze she was in. "This is Tyler Androsky, he's with the FBI."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Tyler." Ben said to Tyler, shaking his hand gently.

"The pleasure's all mine." Tyler said, returning the handshake. "I've heard quite a lot about you."

Ben cracked a smile at Tyler's comment before turning to the three children in the group. When Abigail saw who he was looking at, he waved at them to come over. Still sopping wet, the three of them made their way to Ben's side.

"Ben, this is Armando Salinas." Abigail said, introducing Armando. "And these are his sisters Anita and Josephine."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Ben said solemnly, knowing what they must have witnessed. "I'm sorry if any of this scared you."

"It's alright, sir." Anita said. "We knew what was going on."

Ben stared at them for a few moments, and the feeling in the pit of his stomach told him something was rather unique about the three children before him. It was like he'd seen them before. It didn't take him long to put the pieces together.

"Ben," Abigail stated softly. "These are Sophie's great-great-grandchildren."

Ben stared at them for a moment, now seeing the slight resemblance. They had her eyes. Slowly and gently, Ben rested his head against the rock surface he was laying on. He was still exhausted, which the others could tell from his labored breathing. "What about Ian and his men?"

Abigail and Riley glanced at each other with a dull glance. "Well, let's just say we really lit up his world."

"So, I'm taking it you took care of them."

"Oh, yeah." Abigail said with a sarcastic nod. "We sure did."

After a brief pause, Ben began to collect his thoughts. "Now, I guess there's still the matter of a treasure that needs finding."

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 25: The Eagle Holds the Key


	25. The Eagle Holds the Key

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 25: The Eagle Holds the Key

The hours passed in the darkness as the newly reunited treasure hunters sought refuge in one of the stone huts near the cavern leading down into the underground stream, which was now underneath thirty or forty feet of water. With Ian and his men taken care of, they now had the much needed chance to recollect themselves and rest for the grueling task of finding the treasure. As time went on, they knew very well this wasn't going to be an easy task.

Tyler stood with his back against the door frame, his gun in the back of his belt. He'd been listening for any noise or sign of anyone else in the city, any sign of Ian's men they had subdued. He listened to the seconds tick by on his watch, and with each second he listened out for them. After seeing what they'd done to Ben, he knew to expect anything. Looking back into the small stone ht they were in, he looked at how they'd settled in for the night, which he could tell was coming. The ray of light from the hole in the ceiling above the city was fading quickly. Inside the first of the two rooms, Emily sat with Armando and the girls, who were all fast asleep. Curled up in the emergency blanket from Patrick's gear, Anita and Josephine stirred peacefully, while Armando laid on the stone floor next to them. Emily occasionally glanced at them to make sure they were alright, while still focusing on the other blanket tacked over the door leading into the other room. She listened to Patrick and Abigail talk amongst one another, working at the group medics.

It made her think about when Patrick was in Korea, and he told her of all the injuries he'd seen of the other shoulders. Luckily, all he'd gotten himself was a few bad colds and a split lip. She knew what he'd seen in the war; he'd seen death, gruesome injuries, horrible illnesses, and many more things she could barely begin to understand the way he did. The one thing which stunned her about the war was that he faced it without haste, not stopping out of fear or nervousness. She'd heard stories of men running off to Sweden and shooting themselves in the kneecaps to avoid the draft, and here he faced it as if it was a tenth-grade pop quiz. It was that same stubborn will that she saw in her son.

"He wasn't afraid." Emily whispered, catching Tyler's attention. "Abigail heard him say that, just before."

"Not afraid?"

"He's not afraid to die." Emily sighed, staring blankly into the darkness. "The way he understands the value of these treasures he looks for is unlike that of most others."

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked, his eyes narrow.

"I'm not exactly sure, to be honest." Emily said again, still whispering as not to wake the kids. "I think he understand the sacrifices people have made for this nation's history, and the treasures to him are pieces of the history they've left behind; missing pieces."

"Like what we're looking for now?"

"Exactly." Emily said, nodding. "There are times where I just get so angry at him for being that way."

Tyler paused, knowing she had more to say.

"But then I remember that there are times where I'm the very same way."

Tyler didn't say anything; he only sighed, nodding in observational agreement. It made him think of his own kids and the behavioral traits they got from him and his wife.

"My eldest daughter is a lot like him, too." Tyler said, picking up Emily's attention. "She's been a fanatic of United States history ever since she was old enough to read."

"Really?"

"Yep." Tyler responded. "While other girls wanted dolls and hairbrushes and makeup, she wanted textbooks, encyclopedias, and a three-thousand-dollar computer."

Emily raised her eyebrows at this information. As she listened, she matched up the facts of Tyler's daughter to her memories of Ben when he was younger.

"She used to go pawing through my father-in-law's attic looking for old newspapers and things, she'd spend almost every summer working in the libraries or volunteering at the museums, even tutoring other kids in her school."

However, from the solemn look on Tyler's face, Emily knew that his daughter, like Ben, experienced the disadvantage of this kind of interest.

"She'd come home crying because the other kids would tease her and push her around just because she was smarter than them." Tyler scoffed, thinking of the torture his Molly went through in grade school. He went into details that would make Ben want to put his fist through a stained-glass window. Other kids had stuck gum inside one of her best history books, poured makeup all over an authentic diary of a young girl from the great depression, threw rocks at her and pushed her into puddles on her way home from school, and one kid even set the diorama she'd made of Independence Hall on fire.

"It was terrible." Tyler said. "We'd speak to the principal, the teachers, even the school board."

"What did they have to say about it?"

"The same pathetic excuse every time." Tyler said with a scoff. _"Kids will be Kids."_

Emily rolled her eyes, remembering hearing the very same statement countless times when Ben was having problems in school.

"That's probably the main reason I joined the FBI." Tyler sighed, brushing his hand through his hair, trying to wipe the memories of his daughter's pain from his mind. "My wife and I needed the money so we could send her to a private school, to get her away from those hooligans."

"Did it help?" Emily asked.

"She got into college on a scholarship that over 250,000 kids applied for. She was one of only three who received it."

"Wow." Emily said, raising her eyebrows. "But, being a security agent must be risky business."

"Trust me," Tyler stated. "It is. I've been shot at, jumped off bridges, even pushed in front of a moving truck."

"That's crazy." Emily said, trying to comprehend his reason for making such dangerous choices.

"That's Love." Tyler sighed. "If it means giving my kids a chance at happiness they can achieve by their own means, then so be it."

After a moment, Emily came to agree with what he said. Although reluctantly, she agreed. When Mitch Wilkinson and his men dragged her away to South Dakota when they were looking for Cibola, She'd risked her life to help Ben and Patrick. Of course, she'd known doing so was completely insane, but at the same time she knew very well what could have happened if she hadn't.

* * *

"Careful." Riley said nervously as he held out his arm, wincing occasionally as Patrick carefully removed the old bandages protecting the bullet wound on his arm, in order to replace them with clean bandages.

"Take it easy, son." Patrick said, trying to calm him down. As Patrick gently pulled away the last layer of bandages, he revealed a large purple scar on Riley's arm. It showed the entry and exit wounds stitched shut and covered up with fake skin and tissue to protect it, and the two points were connected by a thin incision the surgeons had made to repair the damage done to his arteries. Having seen wounds like this in Korea, Patrick was taken back by the sight of the wound which had almost claimed Riley's life. He paused in the silence for a few moments as he stared at the wound, quickly snapping in and out of flashbacks from scenes of a war that happened over fifty years ago. Before long, he quickly snapped himself out of it. With little haste, Patrick quickly seized another roll of bandages from Tyler's first aid kit and with a gas lamp lighting the way, began to wrap the wound once more.

"Did I ever tell you?" Riley asked, pausing momentarily between sentences. "Did I ever say Thank You?"

"Wait until I'm done, kiddo." Patrick sighed as he applied pressure to the bandages while wrapping Riley's arm. "Then you can thank me all you want."

"I meant for taking me in." Riley said silently, grunting as Patrick gave a final tug at the bandages. "Did I ever say thanks for that?"

Patrick stared in confusion at Riley. "Of course you did." Patrick said. "Several times."

"Oh, sorry." Riley said. "Just making sure."

Patrick nodded with a cracked grin, realizing what thoughts were going through Riley's mind. The incidents of that night on the Potomac River had revealed a completely new side of Riley Poole that he had never seen in all the twenty-three years he'd known him. Riley was the only thirty-eight-year-old he knew who still watched Looney Toons on Saturday mornings, and yet that night he'd acted more honorable than most men ever did in their entire lives. Patrick was still blown away by the fact that Riley had stepped to the same level that Thomas Gates stood at on the night of April 14, 1865. Just as Thomas had given his last breath to protect the treasure of Cibola, Riley had done the same to keep his promise to Ben, and to Abigail, not to mention to the memory of a girl who had been long gone for over a century. Thinking of the choice Riley had made that night, Patrick looked over his shoulder.

Across the room, Abigail sat in the darkness, only illuminated by another dimly-lit gas lantern, next to the lumpy sleeping bag laid out on the floor, which Ben was asleep soundly within. Patrick listened to his son's deep breaths and murmurs, a gentle reminder that his son was still alive. For years, he'd carried this twisted knot of anxieties deep within his stomach, these worries about Ben and what would happen to him if one of these times he didn't get so lucky. He'd known that it bothered Emily a great deal more, but never said anything about it. It was just something he chose to live with, because he'd long accepted that this was the way Ben was. He was a daredevil, a risk taker for the behalf of history, just like he himself had once been. Looking over at Emily, and then at Riley, he looked upon the three people whom had accepted Ben just the way he was. Looking to Abigail, he saw the fourth.

She'd sat quietly for hours, just staring at him as he slept. She'd cleaned and bandaged the wounds on his forehead as best she could, and they'd given him some dry clothes of Tyler's and Riley's. They all knew he needed medical attention right away, but he'd refused; he said, bluntly insisted, that he just needed to rest for a while. Abigail gently brushed her fingers through his hair, which seemed to be filled with dirt and grime mixed with dried blood. Signs of the toll this ordeal had taken on him were in more places than she could count, the first being how Ian had pushed Ben so far to the edge to the point where he was completely spent. Usually when he slept this soundly, he'd be snoring louder than a woodchipper. Apparently, at that moment, he was too exhausted even to do that. As she looked at his bruised and beaten face, she just kept wondering to herself repeatedly how he could have done what he did, _and survived_. She knew he was stubborn, but she never imagined that he'd pull a stunt like that. She knew very well he had good reason and good intentions in his actions, but the fact that he was willing to die for it made her feel dead inside, afraid for him. She wanted to keep telling herself that he wasn't that crazy, but her instincts were telling her otherwise.

"_Stubborn old fool." _She whispered, quoting Katherine Hepburn. _"You stubborn old fool!"_

"_And damn proud of it."_ A hoarse voice whispered back. Abigail's eyes snapped to Ben, face, which she could see moving slowly as he tried to wake up. His throat tensed, his eyes tightened shut for a moment before slowly opening. She heard him take a deep breath before stirring underneath the cover of the sleeping bag.

"Ben?" She asked eagerly, hoping he'd regained some of his strength. "How do you feel?"

"_Like a truck just ran me over"_ He groaned heavily, pulling his arms out from beneath the covers. _"A very large, very heavy, and very fast truck."_

Abigail nodded, noting to herself that it was a step up from being run over by a freight train. "You guys!" Abigail hissed to Patrick and Riley. "He's awake!"

Both heads of the two men shot up their attention to Abigail and eagerly scrambled across the room.

"Ben?" Riley asked eagerly, peering over Abigail's shoulder. "Hey, Buddy."

"Hey, pal." Ben answered, gently lifting up his hand and grabbing Riley's hand, clenching it for a moment. "You did alright, Riley. You did excellent."

"Thanks, man." Riley responded. He paused when he noticed Ben's weak smile fade even further when he caught sight of the bandages on Riley's forearm.

"_Is that it_?"

"Um….…" Riley said hesitantly, quickly rolling his sleeve down over the bandages. "Yep."

Before Riley could say another word, Ben lifted his head up gently, pushing the covers of the sleeping bag off himself. Slowly and gently, he reached for Riley's right arm and with one hard tug, pulled Riley into one of the tightest hugs he'd ever given his best friend.

"It's okay, Ben." Riley told him, gently returning the hug. "It's gonna be just fine."

After releasing Riley, Ben's attention turned to his father's direction. "Dad."

Patrick said nothing. All he did was reach for his son's arm and squeeze him into a hug, holding him for a few moments. As tired as he was, Ben managed to return the hug. Patrick released Ben just before he was about to start seeing stars from the lack of air. "It's going to be alright, son."

"Of course it is." Ben stated. "You guys made it here safely, after all."

"Thanks to Pete." Abigail added.

"What?" Ben asked in a puzzled tone. "Pete was in on this?"

"He managed to pull some strings and get us into a sort-of mock undercover get-up."

"Well, that explains the hair." Ben stated with a smirk. He knew Abigail wouldn't make that drastic change unless she was really determined on something. Abigail chuckled softly at his remark as she watched Riley pull away from Ben and Ben laid back down into the sleeping bag. Abigail fidgeted for a few moments before turning to Riley and Patrick.

"Could I get a moment alone with Ben for a moment?" She asked eagerly. Seeing the expression she was giving, Patrick slowly stood up and exited the room, Riley trailing behind. As soon as they were gone, Abigail turned back to Ben. At first he didn't say anything; he just stared at her. His weak smile faded as he knew very well what he'd put her through. An apology seemed appropriate, but he couldn't find the words. He laid there for a few moments in the silence before gently reaching out for her hand. Having used up much of his reserved energy to hug Riley, Ben could barely lift up his arm. Abigail gently took his hand and held it gently, noticing he could barely grip her hand. When she took his hand, she could feel with her fingers a long, thin scab running across his palm. She gently turned his hand over, pausing when she saw what had been sliced into his hand. She glanced at him slowly, and from the look on his face she could tell how he'd gotten those two cuts. She could feel her throat tighten as she thought of what he'd gone through over the previous ten days or so, what he'd been thinking of.

"I'm sorry." Ben whispered. "I didn't mean for things to go this far."

"I know." Abigail said, putting her hand against Ben's cheek. "It was out of your hands."

"Well, I wouldn't quite say that." Ben said with a small cough. He gently rested his head back, thinking of Ian. "Bastard."

"Tell me about it." Abigail muttered. "He sunk lower than even we anticipated he would."

"What about those three kids." Ben asked softly. "How'd you find them?"

"It turns out that your mom had a friend who was acquainted with their grandfather." Abigail responded, biting her lip. She looked back towards where the three children were sleeping, hoping they didn't hear her.

"Well, where is-" Ben began his question, but found the words leave him when he saw the expression on Abigail's face. 'Oh, God."

"They killed him, Ben." Abigail whispered. "As well as your mother's friend. Tyler told us that it was on the radio not long ago."

"Well, thank you Ian Howe." Ben said, fixing his eyes on the ceiling. This was amounting to a greater deal of trouble than he imagined it would, and quickly.

"Ben, they're looking for the treasure for their mother." Abigail whispered. "To prove the story of their family."

Ben nodded his head gently. "Then I guess there's no choice, we have to stay and find it now."

"True." Abigail responded with a small nod. As she held his cheek in her hand, gently stroking her fingers against his throat to help him relax, she couldn't help but think of what could have happened if they hadn't made it in time. Knowing what Ian was capable of pulling off, she could see them dumping Ben into a stony shallow grave somewhere in the desert, never to be found. From where he lay, Ben could see her eyes begin to swell up with tears and her face turn pale. With his hand in hers, he pulled his trembling girlfriend towards him. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, burying her face in his chest. He gently wrapped his arms around her, wincing gently at the movement of his sore limbs. "_It's okay, I'm right here_." He said softly, over and over. She laid there for hours, eventually falling asleep in his arms. As tired as he was, he stayed awake for a while, embracing someone he'd honestly believed he'd never see again. Every part of his body ached, but he knew he had to stay focused. The first part of the hunt was over, but the second had just begun.

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon

Chapter 26: Two Choices


	26. Two Choices

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 26: Two Choices

The sunlight dimly illuminated the ruins of the lost city in the early morning hours, beams of light made clearly visible by the dust in the air. A gentle breeze was sweeping up the mountain on the outside, creating an eerie moaning in the darkness. Within the dry and dusty confines of the stone hut in which they had slept the night before was only illuminated by a few gas lamps. In the corner of the first room, a circle had formed around the center of the room, a circle of people. In the center of the circle was the diary page containing the very last of the eight clues to finding Sophie's Treasure. From the past clues, the group could determine that it was somewhere beneath them, concealed somewhere within a labyrinth of caves and caverns. Tyler still stood guard by the door, while the others looked on. The final piece of the seventh clue was the next step.

"We found the Zia symbol on a large circular rock at the bottom of the cavern." Armando stated, glancing over at the gaping hole in the stone floor in the clearing nearby.

"Which means that we must be on the right trail, right?" Riley asked.

"We must be." Ben answered.

"Now, what to do about all that water." Riley said with a sigh.

"Are there any possible ways to remove the blockage?" Emily asked.

"If there is, we don't have the means." Tyler said, looking down the hole from where he stood. "You'd need a demolition crew to remove that blockage."

"Wait a minute." Ben interrupted. "It says the last clue states that the Zia changes the course of the river, right?"

"Yeah," Abigail answered. "and now we need to find out how to drain that area of the river."

A few sighs of despair were released around the room, as it appeared that they had hit a dead end. Meanwhile, Ben slowly shifted his attention to the flooded cavern where he had almost died.

"_Change the course."_He thought to himself. He kept thinking about the beds of sandstone upon which this city was built, and perhaps that was the answer to the question. Without saying a word, Ben gently began stretching out his legs, wincing as he brushed his left arm against Abigail, which hung in a sling after it's dislocation. As he tried to stand up, he recieved some startled and worried looks.

"Ben, what are you doing?" Abigail asked.

"Standing up." Ben responded. "I need to see something."

Abigail and Riley both rose to help Ben to his feet. He wobbled slightly as he tried to stand on his still very sore legs, and once he got his footing, he slowly turned away from the group and walked out of the room. As he passed Tyler, he looked up into the roof of the cavern. He focused on the bands of colors in the walls and ceiling, indicating different rocks. The layers up high on the ceiling were fairly darker, most likely basalt. Beneath that Ben could see alternating layers of Limestone and Sandstone. Taking his flashlight, Ben slowly approached the gaping hole, limping his way to the edge. He barely even noticed the pile of chains left off to the side. Pausing at the edge, he gently leaned over the hole, held his breath, and listened. After a few moments, he grinned when he heard a faint sound coming from deep within the cavern. Ignoring the pains in his legs, he turned around quickly, jammed two fingers in his mouth, and whistled for the others. Everybody perked their heads up from the diary page and looked at Ben standing near the hole.

"What is it, Ben?" Patrick asked loudly.

"Just letting you guys know," Ben called. "Goin' for a little swim."

To the surprise of everybody else, Ben took one small hop and leapt from the ledge, disappearing down into the water-filled cavern.

"BEN!" Riley and Abigail yelled loudly as they scrambled off the ground and out the door.

"What on earth is he doing?" Emily snapped as she heard a loud splash coming from within the cavern. Abigail scrambled to the edge of the hole, Riley right behind her. When she reached the edge, she looked down to see only a ring of ripples where he had landed in the water.

"Ben!" Abigail called, searching frantically for him with her own flashlight. Patrick and Emily arrived at the edge, followed by Armando and the girls, and finally Tyler closed in a circle of faces surrounding the hole.

"Ben, where are you?" Riley shouted. There was just silence for a few moments, but within moments a dark figure came to the surface. Everybody breathed a sigh of relief as Ben broke the surface, spitting out a mouthful of water. Swimming in the deep water, Ben looked up to see everybody looking back down at him.

"Ben, what in the hell are you doing?" Abigail snapped. "You trying to get yourself killed _again_?"

"Of course not!" Ben barked back. "Just listen for a moment!"

The entire group fell silent and before long, the sound of trickling water came to their ears.

"What is that noise?" Riley asked Ben.

"I don't know yet!" Ben called back as he swam to the edge of the cavern. Splashing against the side, Ben reached up and grabbed onto one of the ledges of a layer of limestone that was jutting out from the wall. With his left arm still in the sling, Ben held his flashlight in his left hand and looked along the edge of the water, moving himself along the edges by hanging from his left arm. As he scooted himself further along the wall, he began to notice that the noise was getting louder and louder. After about fifteen or eighteen feet or so, Ben stopped when he saw bubbles forming at the water's edge against the rock.

"I think I found something!" Ben called up to the others.

"Like what?" Abigail asked. Ben let go of the rock ledge he'd been hanging from and settled into the water, going under for a second before coming back up. When right in front of it, he could clearly see a large triangle-shaped discoloration in the rock. While most of the rock in the cavern was either brown or dull red, Ben could see that this area was colored a brighter shade of red. When he brushed his hand against it, he noticed that the grains of the rock were coarser than the other rocks, and to his surprise, he could hear a hollow thump every time he touched it. He tapped it a few times with his flashlight to confirm, which he succeeded in doing by producing that thumping loud enough so that the others could hear it. Even loud enough to create a penny-sized hole in the center. He'd just found the point in the rock where a triangular shaped hole had been cut into the limestone. Finally, he also noticed that at the top point of the triangle there was a small circle with another, much smaller triangle pointing from it. The entire space had been cut to resemble that of the Navajo symbol of the eagle.

"Hey, guys!" Ben shouted up towards all the others. "Come on in, the water's fine!"

"I don't think so, Ben!" Abigail protested. "We'll drop you a line to pull you up and we can figure this out first!"

"But guys-"

"Don't argue with me right now, Ben!" Abigail snapped. Ben sighed and nodded his head. "Alright, toss me-"

Ben was cut off when he suddenly vanished beneath the surface, a small splash erupting from the water as his head went under.

"Come on, Ben." Abigail said. "That's not funny."

Nothing. The group looked down, flashlights shining, but saw nothing.

"Ben?" Riley called. Still nothing. Ben was gone.

"Oh, God." Abigail stuttered as she extended her legs over the edge. It was about twenty feet to the water, which she calculated in the seconds before she took her leap of faith, which sent her plunging into the cold water. Flashlight in hand, she sank deep into the darkness. Eagerly shining her light around, she finally came across a still figure about ten feet below her. She slowly waved her arms, trying to descend deeper, when suddenly the figure rose abruptly and carried her to the surface.

"_GRAAH_!" Abigail snapped as she broke the surface of the water. Backing away from where she had surfaced, she looked on as Ben's head rose out of the water.

"See?" Ben asked with a cracked grin. "Told you the water was fine."

Abigail rolled her eyes, scoffing in irritation. Soon afterwards, she chuckled lightly. "Alright, Ben."

"Hey!" Riley called from above. "Are you guys alright?"

"We're fine." Abigail responded.

"Ben!" Riley shouted. "What was up with that?"

"The clues say that we needed to divert the river, right?"

"Yeah." Riley responded.

"Well, it looks like Ian did it for us." Ben answered. He looked up and saw seven puzzled faces staring back at him. While trying to stay afloat, Ben drew himself closer to the rock face he'd examined, marked by the hole he'd already made. Abigail watched curiously, wondering what he had up his sleeve. She watched as he lifted up his legs to the point whereas he was floating on his back, bent his knees, and with all the strength he could muster, kicked the rock. He did this three or four times until finally a crack formed running from the hole made earlier down to the edge of the eagle's silhouette. Swimming back to the edge again, Ben reached up with his right arm and found a small rock sitting on a ledge of the wall.

"Ben, what is that?" Abigail finally asked, puzzled over the intrusion into the rock. Glancing at Abigail, Ben momentarily backed away from the wall and looked up towards Riley.

"Riley, could you read me the last clue?"

"Sure thing, Ben." Riley said, disappearing from the hole for a moment. Upon his return, Ben could see the pages from the diary in his hands.

_The treasure lies in the eagle's keep, shielded by it's wings,  
__Beneath the wall and around the stone, the earth reveals her splendor.  
__Where wisdom shall triumph, and cowardice shall fail,  
__With key in hand, the light will prevail. _

"I do believe," Ben said, reaching for a small rock sitting on a nearby ledge of the wall. "It is the way to the treasure."

Abigail watched as Ben began to chip away at the rock by hitting it with the smaller stone he'd found. Holding onto the rock wall with his left hand was the only way to gain some footing on the rock face, so he slipped off the sling and held on as tightly as he could. Meanwhile, he watched eagerly as the eagle shaped rock began to slowly crumble away like Sheetrock. After a few minutes of chipping away at the rock, Ben paused when he noticed the entire outline of the rock budge, giving off a loud crunching noise. Abigail jumped at the noise, as did Ben, who now was able to hear the noise of cascading water down a passageway, which was slowly getting louder. Another crunching noise came as the rock continued to break apart. Before Ben could even move away, the rock gave way and was pushed inwards by the water, exposing a triangular passageway cut into the rock, which was half-way underwater. Instantly, water began to pour down into the passageway, and before he had time to react, Ben was swept into the hole, vanishing into the darkness.

"BEN!" Abigail shouted. She began quickly to ponder on what she could do, but soon found herself being swept into the hole as well. At first, she tried to fight it, but then she shined her flashlight into the hole.

"Abigail!" Patrick shouted from above. "What's happening?"

Looking closer at the hole, Abigail soon realized that Ben had found the way. She looked up towards Patrick and Emily and Riley and the kids.

"Come on!" Abigail shouted. The others watched in shock as Abigail swam over to the hole and dove in head first.

* * *

In the dark shadows of the opposite side of the city, the silence of the past centuries was broken again but a deep groaning. In a stone hut near the edge of a deep gorge dividing the city, a small stream of smoke was slowly leaking from the doorway. After what seemed like an eternity, a shadowy figure crawled out of the hut on his hands and knees. Shaking violently, the man slowly looked up and saw a stream of water trickling down a rock face nearby. He saw this as a point of salvation, as he'd suffered severe burns from inflamed acid. He quickly splashed water all over himself, trying to wash off the acid which stung his body.

Looking up, Ian noticed from in the direction he had crawled, his gun was lying on the ground. He looked ans also saw he still had several cartridges as well.

"_I'm not finished with you yet, Gates."_

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon:

Chapter 27: The Devil's Eyes


	27. The Devil's Eyes

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 27: The Devil's Eyes

Ian's hands rubbed furiously over the top of his head, feeling his scorched hair. The hairspray had burned his skin, his clothes, everything. As he looked around in the darkness, he knew that his original plans had gone awry. Still wincing and cringing from the pain of his burns, he reached into his coat pocket and quickly pulled out his cell phone. Fitst, he examined it to make sure it wasn't damaged. When he saw it was unharmed by the flames, he quickly flipped it open and turned it on, dialing into his list of contacts. Selecting the first number, he mumbled and bickered miserably as he listened to the ringing.

"_Hello?"_

"Pedro, it's Ian."

"_Boss? What's going on in there?"_

"We have had a little mishap." Ian responded with an exaggerated answer. "It looks like the team I came in with has been subdued."

"_What? By who?"_

"Apparently Gates' girlfriend, nerdy sidekick, his parents, that Frickin-Bastard-Ignaramous of an agent and three little snot nosed rugrats."

"_Really?"_ The voice over the phone asked in a hispanic tone. _"What is your situation?"_

"I'm injured, but that does not matter right now." Ian responded, being sure to talk carefully so his hired henchmen could understand his English. "What did the others do with Gates?"

"_They just said he'd be swimming with the fishes in some big hole in the middle of the city."_

"Where? What big hole?" Ian asked.

"_It should be near the gorge's edge, about 100 yards from the center square. You should be able to find it underneath a great hole in the ceiling."_

Ian looked up and saw the hole in the ceiling of the great cavern. Afterwards, he looked below it and saw the clearing, not very far away. Ian had lost all interest in the treasure, a thought which had repeated in his mind countless times over the past few days. His thoughts switched to the years he spent in federal prison, the constant mockery from his fellow inmates. He'd been called 'Benedict Arnold', 'Jim Crowe', even 'John Wilkes Booth' following Gates' discovery of the City of Cibola. Over the radio of the sherrif warden, he'd heard several times the news of Gates' triumphs and discoveries, all of which should have been his. The memory of every glare, every sneer, and every filth-ridden comment he'd listened to ever since he'd been sentenced.

"I hope you're alive, Ben." Ian mumbled as he stood to his feet. "Because you're going to pay dearly for this."

* * *

Ben found himself careening down what felt like an underground river, twisting and turning through narrow channels and rolling over rocks and stones in his path. The water moved with great ferocity as it continued to sweep him downwards until finally it gave way to a hole in the rock below. Ben was sent crashing straight down into a pool of shallow water, only a few inches deep. He landed hard on his chest, the air being knocked out of him. When he looked up, he saw nothing but darkness. Within a few seconds, a high pitched screaming coming from above drew his attention. He slowly looked up into the torrent of water cascading down on him and suddenly saw a dark figure spill out. Abigail was swept through the hole head-first, crashing into Ben.

"OW!" Ben yelled.

"Oh, God." Abigail gasped. "Sorry!"

Coughin and gasping for air, Ben looked up into Abigail's face as she laid on top of him, who was equally trying to regain her breathing.

"You did it, Ben!" She gasped with a cough. She quickly hugged him tightly. "We're almost there, I can feel it!"

"_Alright." _Ben wheezed underneath her weight.

"Oh, sorry." Abigail said as she scrambled off him and quickly began helping Ben onto his feet. Once Ben was standing, Abigail reached around for her flashlight, which had fallen onto the ground. She picked it up and switched it on, illuminating the cavern they had now entered, far beneath the city.

"Do you think the others will follow us?" Ben asked, looking up at the waterfall.

"I dunno-" Abigail began to answer him, but her voice was soon interrupted by the shrill cries of an elderly man falling out of the hole and crashing to the ground.

"Dad!" Ben shouted, rushing to his father's side, still limping along the way. Patrick landed on his back in the water, the wind knocked out of him.

"Ohh." Patrick groaned painfully. "I've never taken a wilder ride in my life."

"Well, it's good to see you're enjoying yorself." Ben said sarcastically, helping his father to his feet. Dripping wet, Patrick looked at his son's face through the darkness. Seeing that eager, wide-toothed grin in the light of Abigail's flashlight told him his son was back, something which made him swell with pride.

"Well, are the others coming down?" Abigail asked.

Before Patrick could even answer, more screaming and yelling was coming from the source of the waterfall. Within moments, Armando came tumbling out, crashing into the water. Landing face down, he coughed up some water for a few moments before looking up towards Ben and Abigail.

"Heck, Disneyland ain't got nothing on this place!" Armando said under his breath.

"You might want to move, kiddo!" Ben said quickly. Armando looked at him with confusion for a moment or two before another figure came careening out of the darness from the waterfall. Armando watched as Riley stumbled out of the waterfall and landed on his back with a loud thud.

Ben and Abigail cringed at their friend's landing. "That's got to hurt." Abigail whispered to Ben. Armando staggered through the deepening pool of water and struggled to help Riley out of the way. Riley stood up, groaning and rubbing his backside and was able to shuffle out of the way just before Anita and Josephine came tumbling and splashing out, screaming at the top of their lungs.

"Girls!" Armando called out to his sisters. "Are you alright? Say something!" After struggling to her feet in the cold water, Josephine looked up at her brother.

"Can we do that again?" The little girl asked eagerly.

"NO!" Anita snapped, struggling to stand up on her own. "Never again." Anita said, shaking and tripping over her own feet. Armando helped his sisters out of the pool just in time to see Emily spilling out of the hole. As she landed, Patrick called out her name and rushed to help her up. Sitting up in the water, Emily brushed her hair from her eyes and looked up towards Patrick. For reasons unknown to the others in the small group. Patrick and Emily stared at each other for a moment or two before bursting into laughter. Patrick rached out his hand and pulled Emily from the water. "Never a dull moment." Emily muttered, looking at her son, then back to the hole where the torrent of water continued to come down.

"Is Tyler coming?" Ben asked, staring at the hole.

"He should be." Emily said. "He was right behind us."

Before Emily even finished her sentence, everybody in the cave jumped when gunshots could be heard echoing through the cavern. A few moments later, Tyler rolled out of the hole and landed face down in the pool. Not wasting a moment, Tyler staggered to his feet and looked up at the rest of the group. "We need to get moving, NOW!" He cussed, spitting out water.

"Why? What was that?" Abigail asked.

"Ian and his men have regrouped." Tyler said as he stepped out of the pool, his soaked clothing forming a puddle beneath him as they dried. "There's a more of them-a LOT more."

"What?" Abigail cussed. Ben looked towards the passageway which led out of the cavern they had landed in, and almost immediately noticed something.

"Look at the rock." Ben pointed out to the group. Ignoring the pain in his injured arm, he used both hands to point out the shape of the tunnel leading onwards. "Someone carved that into the rock."

"Well, come on!" Riley snapped as he headed for the tunnel. Patrick and Emily followed quickly, Armando and the girls behind them. Ben and Abigail stayed back and watched Tyler head down the tunnel before following.

"Hold on a second." Ben said, grabbing Abigail's arm. Before she could ask him about his action, he kissed her, low and quick. He gently pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her to hold her for just that one second. As he pulled away, she looked up at him. At that moment, they both understood his reasons for doing so, and without saying a word, they both headed down the tunnel.

* * *

Still breathing heavily from the stinging of his burns, Ian glared down at the hole in the side of the cavern where he was told Ben had been placed. They had used small explosives to dam up the underground river beneath the city in order to give Ben Gates the settings for exactly what Ian had ordered them to give him, which was a slow and painful death. They explained to him how they'd bound Ben in the chains tight enough to constrict his breathing, and positioned him so that he would either suffocate in the bindings or drown in the river, whichever happened first. The sight of the pile of chains lying near the hole at the top of the cavern told Ian that they had failed. Even more aggravating, the oddly-shaped hole which had formed in the side of the cavern told Ian that his men had actually hekped Ben and the others find what they were looking for faster.

"I'm terribly sorry, sir." One of his men muttered after approaching Ian by the hole. "We didn't mean for this to happen, we can still find the treasure-"

"Forget the blasted treasure!" Ian snapped hoarsely. Several of the men were taken back by his words.

"Sir?" The man speaking to him asked hesitantly. "But we came all this way-"

"I SAID TO FORGET IT!" Ian barked viciously at the man, who backed away in fear. "The treasure doesn't exist! Gates was just following the doodles of some moronic teenager!"

"But sir!"

"DON'T ARGUE WITH ME!" Ian barked at his men, who all stepped back at the sight of his red-eyed anger towards the situation. The burnt skin on his face was almost glowing red and his breathing was extremely heavy, as if Ian had now almost reached a manic state of mind. "We've got other issues to deal with."

"Like what?"

"Well, for starters, we need to find out what is down that shaft they found, as well as what is alongside the edge of that gorge."

* * *

Flashlights in hand, Ben and Abigail led their team of fellow treasure hunters down the tunnel which had been cut into the rock. The air smelled very dry and dusty in most areas, while in others underground streams penetrated into the jagged walls and caverns. After walking in about 150 yards, they came to a large cavern, almost as big as Ben and Abigail's house back in Virginia. Water flowed down it from through cracks in the rock ceiling above on one side, flowing across in braided streams towards the other side, where it disappeared down into another cavern. It was almost like an underground rapid which the flowing water had carved into the limestone.

"Ben." Abigail said, pausing before him. "Ben, look at this."

Ben looked in his girlfriend's direction and saw that where she was kneeling, amongst piles of jagged rocks and stones, something was shining in the light from the flashlights-something _metallic_. Without hesitating, Abigail carefully removed a few of the rocks and within moments, unearthed an object which told them they were going in the right direction. Carefully, Abigail picked up the crescent-shaped iron head of a pickaxe, worn and rusty with its wooden handle having rotted away.

"That's definitely European-made." Patrick said, pointing to some small scratches near the base where the wooden handle had once gone into the iron head of the pickaxe. "Blacksmiths would sometimes initial their works in the iron they casted."

"Yes, that was rather common around the time period we are looking at here." Emily added.

"So, we are getting close?" Anita asked worriedly, slightly shivering in the cold.

"Yes, we are." Ben said, looking at her.

"But, what about those men?" Armando asked, glancing back at the dark tunnel which they came through. "They might be after us."

Abigail and Riley glanced at each other, knowing very well that Ian's men could very well be right on their heels. Ben looked back at them, then up towards Tyler. "I think it might be time to call in some help."

Tyler nodded. "Don't have to tell me twice." The group watched as Tyler reached into a pouch in his pack and pulled out a cell phone that had been stored inside a plastic bag. As he turned it on, he looked into the screen, hoping that the communications system the FBI used had a signal strong enough to reach them all the way down there. After a few moments, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the signal was strong. As he dialed Sadusky's number, he wondered in his head how on earth he would explain this to the head of the agency.

"_Sadusky."_

"Pete?" Tyler asked. "It's me."

"_Tyler?"_

"Yeah, it's me."

"_It's good to hear from you, son. Did they find Gates?"_

"Yeah, we found him, he's a little banged up, but he's alright."

"_tat's great news. What about Howe and his men?"_

"That's why I'm calling, sir." Tyler responded. "We're going to need some help."

"_Alright, I'll get started on that right away. Where are you."_

"We're in Arizona, Grand Canyon National Park."

"_What? It's in the Grand Canyon?"_

"We Believe so."

_Alright, there were reports that two men were gunned down late the other night on the Navajo Reservation, and there are other reports out saying that there are three children missing."_

"Uh, yeah." Tyler said, looking at Armando and the girls. "The children are safe, they're with us."

"_What? Why are they with you?"_

"Well, it turns out that the pioneer girl who left the clues in that diary was their great-great grandmother."

"_Really."_

"Yes, sir, I believe one of those men who was murdered was their grandfather."

"_Well, it's good to hear that they are safe. Are you in a secure location?"_

"Um, well, yes and no."

"_That's alright, I've got your location pinpointed through your phone and I'm sending help right now just hang tight."_

* * *

After hanging up from Tyler on his cell phone, Sadusky took a deep breath and looked towards the warden who was in charge of the west gate of the Grand Canyon National Park. When he first arrived with a group of Arizona State troopers as well as a number of special agents for the FBI, the warden made a joking staement about whether or not somebody had reported another UFO sighting over the canyon. Only a few hours later, at least a hundred law enforcement personnel from verious agencies were now entering the canyon. The warden watched from the gate as Sadusky and several other agents walked towards two helicopters which had landed on the paved road leading into the park. As he walked towards them, he looked up and saw two more helicopters, taking off towards the vast canyon barely a mile away. He'd tried to find Twin Buttes amongst the various peaks protruding from the canyon, but it would be a waste of precious time, as night would be falling soon, and innocent lives were in danger. Less than two hours earlier, he'd received word of an unidentified cell phone call having been picked up from somewhere within the canyon, someone mentioning a Mr. Howe. The person on the phone sounded to be Hispanic, and was speaking of a large number of explosives being fitted inside a cavern somewhere.

To Be Continued…..

Chapter 28: The Last Full Measure of Devotion: Part I


	28. Last Full Measure of Devotion Part I

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 28: The Last Full Measure of Devotion: Part I

The series of rapids flowing through the underground cavern they found themselves in raged fiercely in the darkness, only illuminated by a few beams of light coming from a large opening at the lower edge of the cavern, where the streams emptied into the large river which flowed through the center of the city. Although the streams were, for the most part, barely knee deep, the water was moving exceptionally fast and their were jagged rocks and boulders all around the edges separating the streams. It would be hard enough to get across with all of them. Taking his flashlight, Ben looked all along the edge of the first stream. From where he was, it, like the first stream, emptied into the second one near the point where the streams emptied out into the river, just before what looked like a steep waterfall.

"How can we get across?" Abigail asked aloud as everybody looked around at the rock formations along the edges of the streams.

"I'm not sure that we can." Patrick stated. "Could we have taken a wrong turn somewhere?"

"Nope." Tyler answered, looking back down the tunnel they had just exited. "There wasn't anywhere else to turn.

Shaking his head in frustration, Armando looked down towards his feet. For a moment he was growing nervous, wondering if they'd find it before those other men did. Just at that moment, he noticed something on the ground, something shiny reflecting the light from his flashlight. Eyes narrowing curiously, he slowly kneeled down and found he was looking into a small, shallow hole in the rock about the size of a baseball. He reached down into the hole and found it was filled with wet sand; as well as something else.

"We're going the right way!" Armando shouted over the group suddenly, leaping up from where he was. He quickly sped to the head of the line where Ben was and grabbed Ben's hand, pressing something small and hard and round into Ben's palm.

"Look at that." Armando said eagerly, breathing heavily. "Please tell me that's the real deal."

Startled from the eager response, Ben looked down into his palm, only to be equally startled when he saw what the teenager had found. Abigail turned and with the same kind of startled and excited reaction, saw an old gold coin resting In Ben's palm. He stood in silence for several moments, staring at the Spanish Doubloon. It had been worn down from its original shape, but Ben could still clearly make out on one side of the coin, the Spanish coat of arms. They were on the right track.

"We're almost there." Ben said, grinning excitedly in a way Abigail had honestly thought she's never see him smile again. At the same time, her thoughts switched to the fact that they were that much closer to finding Sophie's Treasure. For that moment of silence, the memory of the young girl brought a tear to Abigail's eye. Slipping the coin into his back pocket, Ben looked frantically for a way to continue.

* * *

"Down there." Ben said to Abigail, pointing towards towards their left to a ledge which ran alongside the edge of the first stream. "We might be able to cross down there."

"Let's see." Abigail responded as she followed him towards the ledge. Ben stood at the foot of the ledge, seeing that it was barely a foot in width for about thirty feet or so. Looking further on, He saw that the ledge jutted out at the end of the stream. Almost directly adjacent to that was a small island of stone at the mouth of all the streams, by which they could use to get across. "Here, I think we can cross down here." Ben announced hoarsely.

"Are you sure?" Tyler asked. "With the Children?"

"It'll be alright." Abigail said. "We can help them."

"Hey, what's that?" Riley interrupted, pointing the light from his own flashlight towards what looked like a series of ropes hanging across the mouth of the stream. Looking in better focus, Ben squinted to see what those ropes were. At first he thought they might have been some roots or something, but as he inched his way along the ledge, he saw that they were the remnants of an old rope bridge. Ben moved his way along the ledge, Abigail behind him. The spray of mist from the churning rapids rose into the air more heavily as they moved along, Abigail gently taking Ben's arm to keep herself from slipping.

"Be careful, everybody." Abigail said to those behind her. "It gets slippery down here."

Riley gulped as he tried to inch his way along the ledge with his back against the stone wall behind them. After a few steps, some loose rocks slid out from underneath Riley's feet. He yelped silently and stopped for a few moments as the rocks tumbled into the water.

"Riley, I said be careful!" Abigail scolded.

Taking a few deep breaths, Riley continued to shuffle along the ledge behind Abigail. Behind him, Emily walked sideways along the ledge, reaching her left hand out to balance herself on jagged rocks jutting out from the cliff or Riley's shoulder. In her other hand, She had Josephine's hand held tightly, as the little girl was crossing the ledge between her and Patrick. Anita and Armando followed, with Tyler taking up the rear of the line. Ben kept glancing back over the line, making sure everybody was there. At the same time, he was listening for the sounds of anything or anybody else who might be around, as he couldn't help but think of what Ian and his men might be up to above them. He just kept praying that Sadusky and his men got there soon.

"Ben!" Tyler shouted as the group neared the end of the ledge. "There's no way we can cross there!"

Ben stopped at the end of the ledge, looking down about twelve feet to the swiftly flowing waters of the unknown river. He then looked to the remains of the rope bridge. Two thick ropes were all that remained. Behind him, against the cliff wall, two wooden posts were anchored into the rock, holding the two ropes in place. Also attached to the posts were two more ropes which had once been the handrails for the bridge. The handrails had since been broken and were now hanging over the edge of the ledge and down into the water. The wooden planks used in to bridge's construction were also long gone. His fingers twitching as he thought, Ben looked around anxiously, trying to think of a way to use these ropes. Then, above him, he found his answer. About ten feet above his head, Ben saw there was a large rectangular-shaped rock jutting out of the limestone wall. Taking a better look at it with the use of his flashlight, Ben saw that the stone jutted out from the wall only about eighteen inches, but he grinned to see that it was positioned at an angle, creating a shallow V-shaped hook against the cliff. Kneeling down by the ledge's edge, He reached out his hands and grabbed a hold of one of the ropes, shaking off a thick layer of dust and dirt in the process.

"Ben, what are you doing?" Before Abigail could even finish her question. Ben gave a large jerk on the rope, breaking it loose from it's fastenings on the opposite side of the water. The others watched curiously as Ben did the same for the other rope, and drew them in together. He also reached over the edge and began pulling in the ropes which had served as handrails for the original bridge.

"Ben?" Riley asked curiously. "You got an idea, buddy?"

"Yeah." Ben answered. "Do you still have that lantern?"

"I might." Riley quickly let his backpack drop to the ground and he turned around to open it. Rummaging around for a few moments, he finally pulled out the lantern. When Ben took it in his hands, he felt its weight for a moment, to determine whether or not it was heavy enough. Finding that it was, he then set to examining the ropes. "Abigail."

"Yeah?"

"Here, give me a hand." Ben said as he took the very end of the cables in his hand. "We need to twist these all together into one thick cable."

"May I ask why?"

"Look up."

Abigail's sights took to the ceiling, where after a few moments, she saw the hook against the wall formed by the oddball rock. Her eyes then moved to the rushing river in front of them, and the dark water which was God-knows how deep. "What?"

"Abigail!" Ben protested. "We need to get across, Now!"

"Is this safe?"

"It's safer than hanging around here."

"He's got a point there." Riley said, lightly nodding his head. Rising shakily to his feet, Ben took the end of the rope in his hands, the lantern hanging freely. He swung it back and forth two or three times before throwing the lantern into the air. Riley yelped in horror as his lantern smashed into the rock wall, a few broken pieces falling into the water. Luckily, the rope managed to land in the hook against the rock. Ben breathed a sigh of relief, grinning as he let out some slack on the rope. He lowered it gently until the broken lantern was within their reach.

"Abigail, grab it." Nodding, Abigail reached out her hand and clasped her fingers around the lantern. She pulled it in over the ledge and untied the lantern.

"Now, do you see how we can secure this here?" Ben asked. Abigail paused for a split second, barely long enough for anyone to even notice, and saw Ben was still sticking to his agreement. Looking at the rock, she then thought of the perfect knot to tie it with. "The Noose." Both of them answered aloud together. Abigail looped the end of the rope around the line Ben held in his hands and wrapped the ropes together like a tightly woven thread. Tying it tightly, she released it from her hands and watched as Ben began pulling the slack on the rope until a tight band formed around the extruding rock. Pulling at it tightly, Ben looked across the river to the awaiting ledge on the opposite side, roughly twenty or twenty-five feet away.

"Ben, we could have a problem here." Abigail said.

"Huh? Why?"

"Think of it as a pendulum." Abigail said, pointing to the rope. Once one of us swings over, the rope isn't heavy enough to swing back by itself."

Ben nodded in realization, as he too now could see the problem with his plan. "Alright. I'll take Josie over first."

The group fell silent, worried faces looking on as Josie stepped forward nervously. She paused for a moment, looking at the rope, then she looked up to Ben.

"Okay." She replied confidently. "I can do it."

"Are you sure, Josie?" Armando asked.

"Yeah." She said, nodding eagerly. "For Grandpa."

Both Armando and Anita nodded nervously as Ben picked her up. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as tight as she could, and after taking a deep breath, Ben lifted up his feet and swung swiftly across the waters and landed on the other side. As he set her down onto her own feet, she faced him with big eyes.

"That was very brave of you." Ben complimented, understanding what the little girl had been through.

"Thank you." Josie answered. "I know he'd want us to find it."

Cracking a smile, Ben reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out his flashlight. "Here, I want you to shine this back over at the other side so the others can see you."

"Okay." She replied, flipping the light on. Turning away from her, Ben swung back over to the other side. "Come on, Abigail." Ben said, reaching out his hand. Nodding again, Abigail stood by his side and held the rope tightly. She held her breath nervously as they swung across together. After dropping her off next to Josephine, Ben turned back again and went back for Riley.

"Riley, can you swing alright with your arm?" Ben asked as he stepped back onto the ledge, referring to Riley's gunshot would.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Riley said. Watching nervously as Ben and Riley swung across the gap, Emily looked at the dark, swiftly moving waters nervously.

"You'll do fine, Em." Patrick said, putting his hand on her shoulder. She nodded her head shakily as Ben returned for her.

"You're next, Mom." Ben said as his feet touched the rock ledge, eagerly reaching out his hand. Swallowing her fears, she valiantly stepped to his side and grabbed the rope as tightly as she could. As they swung over together, Emily looked down into the water and could see chips of lightly-colored stones in the deep water in some areas. Once on the other side, Riley and Abigail both reached out their hands to help her onto the ledge. Without wasting a single moment, Ben swing back and helped Patrick cross the gap. However, when he was on his way back for another trip, his heart leapt into his throat when he saw the lights from a flashlight coming from inside the tunnel they had just come out of.

"_Hurry! They're down here!" _Ben heard someone with a Hispanic accent yell. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he sprang into action mode.

"Armando, take your sister over, Now!" Ben barked as he backed away from the water's edge. Handing the rope to Armando, whom along with Anita, took it tightly and swung across. Just as the two of them landed on the other side, gunshots erupted from several shadowy figures standing at the end of the tunnel they had come from.

"RUN!" Ben shouted, facing the other side. Just as he yelled back at the others, he felt Tyler's hand pushing against his back.

"Jump, Now!" Tyler shouted as more gunshots rang out, a bullet striking the rock only a few feet from where they were standing. Both men dove into the water, breaking into a hard stroke across the current.

"BEN!" Abigail shouted as she followed the others as they scrambled around the tall rocks on the island of stone they had reached. Looking ahead as he lead the way, Riley saw another tunnel leading out of the cavern.

"Up ahead, everyone!" Riley yelled. From the rear, Abigail kept looking into the water for any sign of Abigail and Tyler, and was almost scared to death when they both came scrambling up the shallow ledge along the path they had taken. "Come on, We've got to hurry!" Ben shouted. However, before he could finish his sentence, a blinding light shone onto the group from a large opening to the left. Everyone stopped in their tracks, trying to shield the light from their eyes. After a few moments of silence, a voice rose up and echoed across the cavern.

"_Game Over, Ben."_

* * *

Silence fell over the cavern as the sound of the rushing water regained control of the sounds of the room. The lights suddenly faded and Ben looked over towards the source. He hears some of the others gasp as he looked and saw two sets of steel scaffolding hanging over what was apparently the deep gorge which cut directly through the lost city. Standing upon the scaffolding were at least a dozen men, all with guns aimed at them. Standing at the center of them all was Ian. Ben cringed at the site of his badly burned face.

"So, you all honestly thought you could pull this little trick on me again and again, eh?" Ian barked loudly. "Well, I'm terribly sorry to end this, but time is up."

Taking a deep breath, Ben stepped forward to confront Ian. "Ian listen to me."

"I'm done listening, Ben." Ian muttered with a blank expression on his face. "I figured it out."

His eyes narrowing, Ben looked at Ian with an inquisitive stare. "Figured what out."

"Don't play any more goddamn games with me, Gates." Ian barked. "There is no Treasure down here, is there."

Ben blinked in a brief moment of shock. "Ian, you know very well that it's down here."

With a soft chuckle, Ian focused his attention directly on Ben, shooting a subtle glare at him that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on his head. "Apparently, Ben, our definitions of the word 'treasure' are two separate things."

Taking another step forward, Ben gently raised his hands, in an attempt to calm Ian down, or at least stall him, hoping Sadusky and the rest of the FBI would be jumping in at any given time. "Look, Ian, I know you're upset, but lets try to be reasonable-"

"Ben, the fact that you're even still alive is enough proof that I've been far beyond reasonable these past few weeks." Ian growled. "You led me and my men on a wild goose chase, tricking us into believing that this treasure was actually worth something, and all this time you knew very well that this 'treasure' which this moronic little twit of a teenager was looking for was nothing more than a pile of stones."

Ben fidgeted, pondering over whether or not he should show Ian the coin that Armando had found. Taking another slow step forward, Ben attempted to talk some reason with Ian, again.

"Ian, we'll try to help you stay out of trouble-"

"Oh, you're well beyond the means of providing me with any kind of help but one." Ian said angrily.

"What would that be?" Ben asked, taking a deep breath afterwards.

"Take five steps forward, get down on your knees, and put your hands behind your head." Ian said slowly and distinctly. "If any of the rest of you even blink, you're all done."

Ben swallowed a tight lump of nervousness in his throat, expecting the worst. Slowly turning around, his sights looked at Tyler, a father of five risking his life to provide for his daughter's dream, and Armando, Anita, and little Josephine, three kids determined to restore honor to their family name, just as he had sought out to do. His parents, having just restarted their marriage after over three decades of being apart; Riley, his best friend who had stuck by him even on the edge of death; and Abigail, the woman he'd hoped to call his wife someday.

'_I Love You' _He mouthed silently to her, trying to keep his eyes from watering. He then did just as he'd been told. He fixed his eyesight on a spot on the stone floor about five or six feet in front of him. Lowering his head slowly. This was it; he'd failed her.

One.

His grandfather's voice echoed through his memories, with the line that started it all, '_The Secret Lies With Charlotte_' resonating in his mind.

Two.

Holding the Declaration of Independence in his hand, still in it's heavy glass case, trying to save it from Ian and his men.

Three.

Discovering the Carroll Estate in the hills of Northern Virginia, a place of historical significance which he and Abigail could call home.

Four.

Finding that Mitch Wilkinson and his actions towards finding Cibola, as destructive as they were, were also just as honorable.

Five.

Sophie Hughes's face upon every sight she saw of the United States on her journey towards a new life, a journey she was never to complete.

Slightly trembling with both fear and anger, Ben slowly slumped down to his knees and shakily rose his hands to his head, pressing his palms into the back of his scalp. He lifted his head and watched as one of Ian's men approached him with a familiar looking pair of handcuffs with several drops of dried blood still on them. His hands restrained behind him, he was lifted from his kneeling position and marched towards one of the scaffolds. Being pushed to stand right behind Ian, Ben then noticed a small package about the size of a grapefruit in the hands of the man standing next to Ian.

"Hey, Riley!" Ian shouted. Riley looked up and saw Ian throw the package directly at him. Riley caught it, finding it to be so heavy that it just about knocked the wind out of him when he caught it. He looked at it curiously for a second until he felt his heart freeze when he heard a soft beeping coming from inside of it. He quickly tore off the brown paper covering and to his horror, he discovered four large white canisters about the size of soda cans, engulfed in a mass of plugs and wires, with a digital clock on the top counting back from eight seconds. Wide eyed, Abigail and Riley looked behind them only to find themselves looking down into a raging waterfall beneath the land bridge they were standing on, plummeting fifty feet into a deep mist-shrouded pool beneath them. Riley dropped the bomb in fear and hesitation, the group ascending into what seemed to Ben like an eternity.

0:07

Armando grabbed each of his sisters by the hand, pulling them close.

0:04

Patrick and Emily took each other by the arms, preparing for the worst.

0:02

Abigail and Riley both looked at Ben with shear terror. They knew this was the end.

0:01

_"NNNOOOOOOO!!!"_

Ben's shouts were then drowned out by a monstrous explosion which erupted from the bomb, sending a cloud of smoke and flames into the air, dust and dirt flying along with it. The cloud hit Ben like a wave rolling into a beach, almost knocking him backwards. The echoing of the explosion was then replaced by the deafening roar of crumbling limestone crashing to the river below them. Even before the dust cleared, Ben stared motionless into the abyss beneath him. Abigail, Riley, his parents, Armando, Anita, Josephine, Tyler, and the last hopes of honoring Sophie's memory had just gone up in smoke.

"I warned you, Ben." Ian said coldly, resting his hand firmly on Ben's shoulder. "I warned you."

Ben didn't look up at Ian, didn't even see his signal to raise the scaffolding. Ian had given up on the treasure, and now had only one thing on his mind: execution.

* * *

Meanwhile, far below them, the remnants of the bridge had now become part of the river, the limestone shattering upon impact with the rocky riverbed underneath about sixteen or seventeen feet of water. At the surface, all that remained of the eight treasure hunters whom had vanished was a broken lantern floating in the water, the copies of the diary page floating downstream, and the hands of a young woman clinging to the roots of a dead tree by the riverside. From the surface of the water, the pale blue eyes of a young woman stared angrily at the scene above her. Abigail had had enough; no more Mrs. Nice-Treasure-Hunter.

To Be Continued…

Coming Soon:

Chapter 29: The Last Measure of Devotion Part II


	29. Last Full Measure of Devotion Part II

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 29: The Last Full Measure of Devotion Part II

Struggling to keep a hold of her grip on the roots, Abigail tried desperately to pull herself closer to the edge of the river without losing her grip on the child in her arms. Josephine had her arms clamped around Abigail's neck in the water, looking out for her brother and sister and the others. She saw nothing but the waves from the waterfall rolling downstream.

"Josie, sweetie." Abigail asked in a calm tone in order to soothe the frightened girl. "I need you to try to reach those branches above us, we need to get you out of this cold water."

"Al-Alright." Josephine said shakily. Abigail did her best to anchor herself against the rock so she could lift Josephine out of the water far enough to reach the twisted branches above them. Josephine reached up as high as she could, her slippery fingers able to clasp the lowest branch. Hanging from the branch, Josephine inched her way along towards the trunk of the tree until she was able to rest herself on the rock ledge. With Josephine out of the water, Abigail mustered all her strength to pull herself out of the water. Her first thoughts were for Josephine, as the child was now curled up on the ground and staring out at the dark water.

"Josie, are you hurt?" Abigail asked worriedly.

"I don't think so." Josephine said, wiping the water from her face with her hand. Putting her arm around Josephine briefly, Abigail had barely sat down for two seconds before she spotted a cluster of heads floating in the water and coming towards them.

"_Oh God." _Abigail muttered under her breath. Standing up, she got as close to the water's edge as she could without falling in to see who it was. Within two or three seconds, the cluster of heads became three figures moving towards her.

"Tyler!" Abigail cried, noticing the color of his leather jacket right away. He was swimming in the water up to his throat trying to support the two people he had with him. In his left arm, Anita had her arms wrapped around his neck while with his right hand, he was pulling Emily towards shore.

"Emily!" Abigail cried. "Anita!"

"Here, take her!" Tyler groaned painfully. Abigail crouched down and reached out her hand to grab Anita's outstretched hand.

"Are you alright?" Abigail asked as she pulled Anita from Tyler's arm and helped her onto the rocky ledge.

"I'm fine." Anita said softly. "It just knocked the wind out of me." Anita's thoughts and answers were interrupted by her little sister's cry.

"Josephine!" Anita cried as Josephine practically leapt into her arms. "Oh, thank goodness you're safe."

Making sure the two sisters were safe on the ledge, Abigail rushed to help Emily out of the water.

"Ooh!" Emily cried in pain when she tried to reach for Abigail's hand. "Abigail, I think my wrist is broken."

"Oh, God." Abigail gasped. "Don't worry, we'll get you out." Taking her by the other hand, Abigail did her best to pull her from the water, while Tyler struggled to lift her up out of the water. She managed to crawl onto the rocky shore, wheezing in pain from the shock of the cold.

"Emily, let me see your wrist." Abigail insisted. She carefully helped Emily roll up her sleeve to examine her wrist. Finding a dark purple bruise, she knew there it was probably broken, or at least badly sprained.

"I swear to God." Emily cussed, thinking of Ian. "If he lays one finger on my boy, I'll have his skull full of pencils on my desk." Emily had barely closed her eyes for two seconds to rest before opening them again. It was a good thing she did, or else she wouldn't have seen an arm reaching out of the water in the middle of the river.

"Patrick!" Emily shouted. Abigail's head shot in the opposite direction, towards the river. There she could see Patrick flailing in the current. Before she could even speak, Tyler kicked himself away from the ledge and frantically swam towards Patrick. Emily's heart leapt into her throat when she saw Patrick's arm vanish beneath the waves. Ignoring her wrist, Emily sprang to her feet and to Abigail's side. The two women stood in silence, staring at the water. Abigail took Emily's hand in hers and said a silent prayer, and before she even finished, she saw Tyler break the surface, with Patrick in tow.

"Patrick!" Emily shouted, kneeling down by the water and reaching out her hand. Patrick had a large bruise on his forehead and his glasses were gone, but he appeared to be alright.

"Thank God, Em!" Patrick cried in joy at the sight of his wife safe and sound. "Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?"

'Just my wrist." Emily said, wincing as she held her wrist. As she and Abigail tried frantically to drag him from the water, they soon came to see that he wasn't as alright as he had appeared. His knee was badly twisted and bleeding, appearing to be dislocated. As soon as he'd left the water, the pain hit him harder than the explosion had.

"Hold on, Patrick!" Tyler said as he swiftly crawled out of the water. The three of them struggled to pull him away from the water, while Tyler took off his leather jacket, ringed it out over the water and wrapped it around Anita and Josephine, who were huddled together nearby. As Tyler kneeled down next to Patrick, he took his hand and gave it a firm squeeze of reassurance.

"Patrick, I'm going to pop your leg back in, alright?"

"Do you know how to do that properly?" Patrick asked nervously, while groaning under the pressure of his knee.

"You need not to worry." Tyler said, breathing heavily as water ran down his face from his hair. "Alright, now this is going to hurt, so I'm gonna need you to hold on for me."

Emily took his hand tightly as Tyler took Patrick's injured leg and with one quick shove, popped it right back into its socket. Patrick gasped deeply in pain, but for the most part tried to keep silent, as not to attract attention from the activity going on above them. Just then as Tyler was seeing to Patrick, she realized they were still missing two people.

"Where's Riley?" Abigail asked, rising to her feet. Her eyes darted along the rippling waves, looking for any sign of life. She saw nothing, until she saw the figure of a teenage boy staggering along the stone ledge.

"Armando!" Anita cried, leaping to her feet and racing towards her brother. "You're okay!"

"You all need to come here quickly!" Armand said under heavy breaths. "Riley's down here, he's hurt bad."

Abigail's heart leapt into her throat once more as she scrambled to follow Armando along the ledge, down a rocky path and out to the edge of the wide river which ran through the gorge, deep beneath the city. Scrambling over the rocks and hollow logs which littered the shoreline, Armando led Abigail to a calm pool by the river's edge, where she came across a still figure, leaning against a tall stone in the water. It was Riley.

"_Oh, God." _Abigail cussed as she sped past Armando and scrambled to Riley's side.

"Riley, are you alright?" Abigail asked. She could already see he was hurt badly. The left side of his face was bleeding from a deep gash along his hairline, and it looked from his breathing and his arms around his right side that he'd broken a rib or two.

"I-I think I hit something in the water." Riley groaned with a wince. "Something really hard."

Abigail could also see that his clothing was singed, and there was a dark burn on his chin. Abigail thought back to the bomb exploding, how close he'd been to it. She could see that he was in a lot of pain, but it didn't seem to phase him, as she looked on, he pointed shakily to his left, seeming to grin widely. "Well, it looks like Ian unknowingly helped us again."

Abigail looked curiously towards the direction in which he was pointing, and saw there, carved into the cliff, something extraordinary. Slowly rising to her feet, she found herself facing another tunnel that had been carved into the rock, in the same shape as the hole in the well above them which they had been washed down in; the Eagle of the Navajo.

"It's down there, Abigail." Armando said in a shaky tone. "It has to be."

"Abigail." Riley said, drawing back her attention. "We've got to go back for him."

"I know, but how do we get back up there?"

"We've got to find some way!" Riley said with a groan. "He'll surely be dead by the time the FBI finds their way all the way out here."

Nodding, Armando agreed. "Well, then I guess that's that."

"Wait a minute." Abigail said, interrupting Armando. "You've got other matters to attend to."

Abigail looked down at Riley. "This is the way Ben wanted it." She said to Riley, him understanding before she even finished her sentence. "He had his chance to dignify his family name, now they should have theirs."

Nodding, Riley winced again as he slowly began to stand up. "I just hope he can hold on long enough."

With that, Abigail remembered something that she and Ben had come up with together once on a camping trip to Manitoba, if they ever got separated.

* * *

Ben had been dragged up across the dusty ground, his feet limply caressing the ground. Every now and then he'd caught with his feet a piece of broken pottery or even a bone fragment. He was dragged across piles of debris and around tight corners, his arms practically being wrenched from their sockets. All of this, however, he couldn't see. The black strip of cloth which had been tied tightly around his eyes only permitted him to see if he was in a lighted or dark space. For a while, he could see dim light through the blindfold, but in one instant he was plunged into a chilling darkness. The two men who were dragging him by the arms dropped him hard on his stomach, painfully knocking the wind out of him and kicking dust in the air. Little did he know that Ian had been a step in front of him the whole time. Leaving him briefly to choke on the dust-ridden air, Ian stepped outside to speak with his men.

"Gather everybody up and start moving people out of here."

"We've already done that, sir." One of them answered hesitantly.

"Have the explosives been set?"

"Yes." The other man answered. "They'll never be found."

"Excellent." Ian said with a cold breath, looking back at Ben's sluggishly moving figure on the ground. He would get his revenge, ending the Gates family legacy right then and there.

* * *

"It's up to you three now." Riley said to Armando, his sisters by his sides. He stood before the children, with Abigail's help, all of them in front of the large triangle-shaped tunnel. Armando and Anita both looked into the darkness, Josephine nervously tightening her grip on her brother's hand.

"He helped us so much." Anita said softly, looking up towards the buildings of the lost city which were in their view. "All of you did."

Abigail nodded. "Now we need to help him."

Armando, still holding the golden dagger of the Dutch East India Company in his hand, looked precariously into the tunnel, shining his flashlight into the darkness. At the same time, he looked and saw Tyler fidgeting with his cell phone as he frantically tried to contact Sadusky. After several moments, he growled in frustration and threw the phone to the ground.

"It's broken." He sighed in an irritated tone. "We'll just have to hope that they get here soon."

"How much hope can we have?" Riley asked, breathing heavily from the pain. "After all, it's a really big canyon."

"I told them exactly where the entrance to the city was." Tyler responded, wiping the sweat and water from his brow. "I just hope they can find it in time."

"Right." Riley said. "Now, how do we get all the way up there?"

They all looked up at the steep cliff which ascended up towards the city above them. It was very jagged and rough, but not rough enough to climb all the way up to the city. Abigail's eyes darted around frantically as she looked for a way up, for she knew time was running out.

"Alright, now the three of you need to get going." Abigail instructed to the children. "Stay down there and wait for one of us to come and find you."

Armando nodded, tightening his grip on his sister's hands. "Okay."

Taking a deep breath, Armando stepped slowly into the cave, his sisters trailing behind him closely. Abigail and Riley stood and watched them disappear into the darkness, then turned their attention back to the cliff. At that moment, Riley noticed Abigail was frantically clicking in and out the button on the side of her watch. "Abigail, what are you doing?"

"I'm contacting Ben." Abigail snapped eagerly. Riley glared at her with a raised eyebrow for about five seconds before expressing his profound confusion.

"Alright, I know our circumstances aren't all that swell but I can't have you going all fruit loopy on me now!"

In response, Abigail smacked him in the forehead. "I'm not crazy, dumbass. I'm really sending a message to him."

Scratching his nose, Riley continued to suspend his eyebrow. "Question, How?"

"Morse Code."

"Through your Watch?"

"Yep."

"Again, How?"

"We've got these little two-way transmitters built into our watches, so that when I tap this button, he can feel it on his watch."

"Feel it?" Riley asked in an even more puzzled tone. "How?"

"It shocks his wrist through the battery attached to the back plate."

"What?" Riley said. "Like one of those freaky dog collars."

"Hey, you know how he gets when he's preoccupied." Abigail said. Riley nodded in agreement, remembering the times whereas he practically had to set his hair on fire to get him out of his puzzle-solving mode.

"Well, that's a bit odd, but kind of cool." Riley said nodding. "Now what do we do about getting up there?"

Abigail looked around for a few more moments, until she noticed something further down the river.

"Look there." Abigail said, pointing to a large vertical recess in the rock. Pulling Riley behind her, she looked closer and saw that it was a narrow, circular well about four or five feet in diameter, descending from the city above down to the waters of the river. "I think I've found the way."

* * *

"Armando, slow down!" Anita hissed as she gripped her brother's arm. Armando led his sisters deeper into the cavern, A small flashlight their only source of light. The air was damp, droplets of water dripping down from the ceiling. Josephine whimpered in the darkness while still trying to see anything in front of them. It wasn't too long before they started hearing running water again.

"What's that?" Anita asked. Armando shined his flashlight onto the stretch of tunnel in front of them, and was surprised to see light up ahead.

"Look here." Armando said, leading his sisters out of the tunnel and into a larger cavern. At the center of the circular cavern, there was a stream of water running down from above, accompanied by a faint beam of sunlight

Barely strong enough to illuminate the room enough for the three of them to see what was in the cavern. Looking towards the other side of the room, the three of them froze in astonishment at what they saw. Armando shined his light across the room to reveal with his light a large cave painting, with writing inscribed across the wall. Grinning widely, Armando rushed towards it, Anita and Josephine following close behind.

"Is this it?" Anita asked eagerly.

"We're about to find out." Armando said, looking at the overall structure of the writing on the wall. Squinting to see clearly in the darkness, he began to recognize some of the symbols.

"From-from the east." Armando said, stuttering as he tried to translate the writings. "Came spirits of the sun."

"With the bounty of the earth heavy laden in their arms." Anita continued to read.

"Taken from the grasp of spirits of evil doings, the gift of the gods was taken to the heart of mother earth." Armando said, reading on. "Shall all who cross be graced by the giver of life and use wisdom and power for good beneath her eyes."

Then he saw it.

Directly in the center of the rounded and smoothed rock wall was a symbol he knew very well. It was a symbol that their mother had told them about when they were little. Before them, etched into the rock was the symbol of life's choices. Directly in the center of the symbol was a vertical slit cut into the rock, almost the exact same width as the knife. Taking it in his hands, Armando took a deep breath and stepped close to the rock. Anita pulled Josephine to her side as Armando examined the slit with his flashlight. Taking it by the handle and holding it so the blade was pointed downwards, Armando gently slid the knife into the slit along the top edge until he heard a small click from inside the stone. He then realized the operating mechanism of the door required the knife to be pushed down. He tried to push it himself, but it wouldn't budge.

"Anita, Josephine, I need your help." He called to his sisters. Scrambling to each of his sides, Armando worked out a plan for the three of them.

"Josie, I'm going to pick you up, and I want you to hold onto it." Josephine nodded as he picked her up. She grabbed a hold of the handle and dangled from it, her feet about a foot off the ground. Anita then stepped to the left of Josephine and took the handle in her hands, putting her entire body weight on the makeshift lever. Finally, Armando took hold, and with a count to three, took a hold of the knife and forced his entire body weight down onto it. Slowly but surely, the knife began to budge, and after a few seconds, slid clear down the slit, the blade now pointing upwards. Suddenly, a burst of hot air swept across the children, blowing dust from cracks in the rock. Armando and his sisters fell backwards with this, and once the dust cleared, could see that a rectangular piece of the wall was now moving backwards by itself, creating a doorway in the wall.

'Come on." Armando said, helping his sisters to their feet. "We've got a treasure to find."

* * *

Ian and his men walked away for a few moments, leaving Ben behind in the silence of his own thoughts. He was trapped in a maelstrom of horrifying images, repeating in his memory.

"_Abigail, what have I done?"_ He said silently to himself, breathing heavily and trying not to throw himself into an anxiety attack equivalent to the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. His head throbbing worse than it had since this entire ordeal had started, Ben gently rested his forehead against the stone floor of the area in which he had been concealed. In his mind, he kept repeating everything that had happened since he had first laid his eyes on the diary, and everything he should have done differently. Should he have headed west alone at first? Could he have tried to escape Ian and his thugs? Or even still, could he have ignored the diary altogether and simply kept it as an addition to his collection. Shaking his head, he knew that would have been even worse. Laughing at that thought, he remembered that he'd followed his instincts as best he could, and it still resulted in everything blowing up in his face. Now, everybody he cared about all lied in dark, watery graves for all he knew, and he was not far behind them. Before he could ponder over anything more, a gunshot rang through the air, causing his blood to run cold and his heart and mind to freeze for a brief second. He waited for the searing pain of a gunshot would to his back, his throat, or even his head, but nothing ever came, no pain that wasn't already there.

"Do you honestly think I would let you off that easily?" A voice with a British accent asked him in a low tone, followed by a deep, evil chuckle. Slowly but surely, Ben could hear footsteps in the darkness, getting closer and closer with each passing second, right up until Ian must have been standing directly over him. Trying his hardest not to move, Ben waited in the silence for his end to come, not knowing what to expect. At that moment, three more gunshots rang out in the darkness of Ben's prison, him clenching his teeth together tighter with every shot. Again, he waited for that searing pain to begin, but once again, it never came.

"That's what it feels like, Ben." Ian said coldly, continuing to circle the treasure hunter's still figure. "To be so close to losing it all that you can practically taste it."

Ben said nothing. He slowed his breathing to a near stand still, hoping Ian wouldn't hear his desperation, as it seemed that was exactly what Ian was looking for. If he was going to die, he sure as hell wasn't going to die a coward. He wanted to ask Ian to put him out of his misery and get it over with, but doing that would only please Ian further in his madness. The best he could think of to do is just to remain silent.

"Well, Ben," Ian remarked inquisitively. "Any last requests? Maybe your last rights read to you, or perhaps even a prayer?"

Swallowing his nerves, Ben clenched his teeth together tightly, choking over the thoughts drowning him in his own mind. He listened for Ian to say more, but his captor said nothing. Instead, Ben suddenly felt Ian tugging at the back of his jacket, and for one terrifying moment, he felt the tip of the blade of a knife pressing into his back. He waited for Ian to press the blade clear through his body, but he didn't. Instead, he began cutting away at the back of Ben's clothes. First, he sliced away at the denim from Ben's jacket, then cut through his shirt until his bare back was exposed. Ben paused in confusion until he suddenly felt his arms wrenched up off of his back, followed a few minutes later by something long and thin striking his back hard. He snapped his eyes shut and clenched his teeth together, the feeling as if he'd been struck with a whip like a horse or something. A few seconds later, it struck again with even more force, causing him to bow his neck in an attempt to lower his head in reflex. Breathing as gently as he could in between his teeth, Ben braced himself for more blows from whatever he was being struck with. He began to wonder if Ian was the only person in the room, as he could feel someone holding his arms up in a very painful position. As he was being held, he began to feel a strange tingling in his arm, causing his index finger on his left hand to twitch suddenly. As he struggled to hold himself still, he began to feel rhythmic pulses of electricity sweeping along his arm. His breath tightened and his eyes closed, his hope restored. She was alive!

…_HOLD…ON……..HELP..IS…COMING…_

Ben clenched his fists together, still clamped in the handcuffs, trying to focus on his memory of the Morse code system.

…_PETE…COMING……..FBI…GETTING…CLOSER…_

Ben could hear Ian bickering angrily under his breath as he continued to strike him with whatever it was he had. Before long, he began to feel drips of blood running down his sides and splattering about every time he was struck. The pain was intensifying as the strikes were getting closer together.

…_RILEY…SAFE……..PARENTS…SAFE……..TYLER…SAFE……..CHILDREN…SAFE…_

Ian struck hard against a set of nerves in Ben's back with the whip, causing him to grind his teeth together harder.

…_HOLD…ON……..WE…ARE…COMING……..CHILDREN…GOING…ON…TOWARDS…TREASURE…_

With that message ending, Ben felt the whip strike his wrist hard, breaking the band on his watch and sending it flying off into the darkness. He now felt blood running around his neck and down his shoulders. Ian struck him one last time across the shoulder blades, forcing a painful gasp out of Ben's mouth. Breathing heavily between his grinding teeth and his eyes snapped shut, Ben struggled to keep from shaking, his body trying to recoil violently from the slashes to his back. He felt his arms fall onto his back as they were released, cringing as his arms came in contact with the open wounds. He could feel at least a dozen deep gashes in his back, and blood was now beginning to pool around his body. Sweat and tears stinging his eyes, he struggled to stay awake.

"That's hardly what I call compensation, but it should be enough to show you the ways of the world." Ian said slyly, dropping the whip and once again circling around Ben. "There are those destined for happiness and prosperity, and there are those who are not. Right now, I'm hoping you understand our two positions on that spectrum."

Ben didn't respond to Ian's remark, because he tried to drown them out as best as he could. He thought desperately for a way to stall Ian, as he knew his time was running out. He felt his limbs growing tired and limp, and he was starting to feel lightheaded. Between his deep, painful breaths, he prayed in his own silence.

"_Keep them safe…help them find it….please keep them safe…"_

To Be Continued…

Coming Soon:

Chapter 30: The Last Full Measure of Devotion Part III


	30. Last Full Measure of Devotion Part III

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 30: Last Full Measure of Devotion Part III

Sweat dripped from Riley's forehead as he struggled to push his weight against Abigail's back. His side was engulfed with stabbing pains, but he tried his hardest not to fuss over it, he just kept his eyes on the ledge above them, which was drawing closer and closer with every passing moment. At one moment, he released a dull groan in pain, closing his eyes briefly.

"Riley?" Abigail asked worriedly. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Riley responded, his breath labored. "Let's keep moving."

Abigail nodded slightly as both of them kept taking steps up the vertical wall of the well. The two of them had themselves back to back in the well, walking up on either side with their arms locked together. The bands of different colored layers of limestone slowly inched past them as Abigail listened closely for any signs of life from above them, good or bad.

"What are we going to do once we reach the top?" Riley asked, wheezing under his breath.

"We'll figure something out." Abigail answered. Gently moving her head, she was able to glance down and see Tyler standing below them, watching from the shadows of the overhanging cliff. The distance between the floor of the city and the bed of the river must have been at least a hundred feet, maybe more. So far, Abigail and Riley were about two-thirds of the way to the top. As they inched their way upwards, Abigail kept repeating the prayer she'd been saying in her head time and time again. She prayed for Armando and the girls, that they could find the treasure that their family had been looking for; she prayed that Pete and the rest of the FBI would reach them in time, and she prayed that she wouldn't find Ben dead in this place. The thought of experiencing that loss _again_ was just too much for her. Once again shaking off her worries, she kept her focus on the ledge above her, which was growing closer and closer. When she and Riley were about ten feet beneath the ledge, she panicked when she could feel Riley's grip loosen and the force of him pressing his back against hers lessened.

"Riley?" Abigail asked worriedly. "Are you alright?"

"I'm…fine……just need…to…rest." Riley responded, grunting painfully between the waves of pain coming from his abdomen.

"Listen, Riley." Abigail said in a low and stern tone. "We're almost there, alright?"

"I'm sorry." Riley responded in a weakened tone. "I-I can't move."

At that very moment, Abigail's heart leapt into her throat when she heard footsteps above her. Her eyes focused on the ledge above her, Abigail waited and watched in fear, expecting the worst. She was just about to close her eyes when a shadowy figure appeared above her. However, her fears diminished away when she saw a familiar face looking down at her.

"Pete!" She cried in an exhausted tone. "Help, please!"

"Here, they're over here!" Pete yelled towards the direction he had come from. "Hold on, we'll get you up!"

Abigail tried her hardest to keep her feet pressed firmly into the rock wall, hoping and praying Riley could do the same long enough for help to reach them. Keeping her eyes fixed on Pete, who continued to look down at her with a flashlight in hand, Abigail saw two young men send lines of rope down the well, letting them hang on both sides of Abigail and Riley. Next, another man wearing an orange vest and a hardhat with a light on the visor descended down the well to assist them.

"Well, it looks like you guys made yet another big discovery, eh?" The man asked with a wide toothed grin. "I'm Charley, by the way."

"Nice to meet you." Abigail said. She was just about to comment on how it might not be the right time for congratulations for their discovery of the lost city, but before she could even open her mouth, Abigail saw Charley had two orange slings, each attached to one of the lines that had been dropped.

"Here, we're going to slip your arms through these rings, alright?" Charley explained in a calming tone, his headlight practically blinding Abigail. He positioned himself in the well so as he could help hold Abigail and Riley up while they carefully and shakily slipped the harnesses under their arms. "Abigail!" Pete called from above.

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but Riley's hurt, I think he's got a broken rib or two."

Pete pulled a two-way radio from a clip on his belt and Abigail could hear him request another chopper to come in. "Where is everybody else?"

"Tyler is right below us."

Pete looked down to the bottom of the well and saw Tyler step into the beam of light cast by his flashlight.

"Tyler! You alright, buddy?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Tyler called back. "I've got Patrick and Emily down here, Patrick's got a bad leg and Emily might have broken her wrist, but they're alright."

"Alright, and what about Ben?"

"Something else happened." Abigail interrupted in a frantically worried tone. "Ian's got a whole bunch of hired help here, and they dragged Ben off."

"Yeah, right before they tried to kill us!" Riley hissed angrily between his teeth. Abigail heard Pete cuss under his breath and saw him turn swiftly away from them and reach for his radio again.

"_MOVE IN! MOVE IN!"_

"Pete, Ian's gone off the deep end this time." Abigail stuttered as she and Riley both released themselves from the climbing position they had been in, letting their legs hang limply below them. Agents with flashlights began hauling Riley up right away. "He's been using explosives down here!" Abigail said again, watching nervously as Riley was dragged up over the ledge and out of her sight.

"Don't worry, we'll find them." Pete said, turning to Riley. "I've got about a hundred or so Arizona State Troopers swarming the cavern you guys have found, with more on the way."

Pete watched on as two paramedics quickly dragged a backboard into the clearing near the well and gently laid Riley onto it. Kneeling down by his side, Pete gently patted Riley's shoulder.

"_Promise me that you'll find him." _Riley said in a weak and exhausted tone. _"Please promise me you'll find him!"_

"I'll do my best, kid." Pete said as they quickly and hastily strapped riley to the board and hauled him off. He watched as the paramedics were guided out by a group of agents with flashlights, towards the tunnel they had used to enter the city. Near the edge of Crystal Creek, several of the park rangers and workers, as well as a few members of the Arizona Guard had cleared a path through the piles of stone. Pete watched until he could see Riley being lifted off to safety before turning back to Abigail.

"I've got to find him, Pete." Abigail stammered hoarsely, trembling from exhaustion, and in fear, and in anger. "I _have_ to find him."

"Don't worry, Abigail, we'll find him." Pete responded in a calm but shaky voice. However, before he even finished talking, she was gone. He watched as she darted off into the darkness, and then frantically tried to race after her.

* * *

Ian circled Ben's still figure for a few moments, listening to his muffled, labored breaths. He began to notice that the breaths were becoming deeper and farther apart, meaning his end was near.

"Sir, should we be getting going soon?" One of his men hissed from outside the room.

"No!" Ian snapped silently and angrily. "I've still got business to finish."

"But Sir-"

"I Said NO!" Ian barked again. "If you want to run off, go ahead, it'll only be a matter of time before the authorities catch you."

That specific threat seemed to do the trick, as the man with the Hispanic accent seemed to disappear back into the silence. Ben tried to listen to Ian's footsteps in an attempt to get a picture in his mind of where his captor was standing, but he couldn't get his thoughts to stick in his mind. Memories flooded his mind, scanning back through his entire life from when he was a kid right up to just before this entire ordeal had started. The one memory he tried to hang onto tightly was that of Sophie, and what he'd learned of her. It seemed to help the pain fade a little bit; only he wasn't sure if the pain was fading, or if he was. His energy spent, he kept his face rested against the stone floor, listening to Ian's ranting.

"It'll be over soon, Ben." Ian said in a low tone. "It won't be long now."

Knowing perfectly well what Ian was talking about, Ben kept trying to keep his breathing steady, not wanting nor willing to please Ian by simply giving up and dying with a whimper.

"Now, Ben." Ian stated, as if starting to ask a question. "What have we learned from this experience?"

His mouth dry and dusty, Ben was hardly able to answer, and even if he could answer he couldn't think of one damn thing to say to Ian.

"Well?"

Ben remained perfectly still, trying to conceal himself in his own thoughts. He knew he just needed to stall Ian long enough for help to arrive, and he did so by trying his hardest to ignore every word coming out of Ian's mouth. Every word he said, however, just kept building up the tremendous urge to beat the living shit out of Ian. Every stunt that Ian had pulled, all the people he'd hurt, and the lives he'd ruined, as well as ended, and all out of pure greed. Ben thought first of Armando and the girls, and how even though they might be on the verge of finding something their family had been searching to find for generations, they may very well have lost the last piece of family they had left. What would become of them now? They would most likely end up in foster care, like Riley had been in after his parents had died. He then wondered if a family out there would take them in, like the Chase family had done for Abigail. He wanted to believe that there was a family out there somewhere who would help them, but he just couldn't be sure about it, which created a chaotic firestorm of distress amongst his instincts.

"Answer me, Ben!" Ian barked loudly, sending a chilling echo throughout the room. "What have you learned from this experience?"

His breathing had become harder and rougher, as if somebody had rested an anvil on top of his chest and it was pressing down onto him. His entire body was now drenched with sweat, and he could still feel the steady trickles of blood coming from the deep wounds on his back. _"I-I've learned…."_

"Yes?" Ian said persistently.

"_I've…learned that…we all have our places…of belonging…in the world." _Ben said weakly in an exhausted tone.

"Good, there's one thing." Ian whispered coldly in the darkness.

"_I've learned that…the world…functions with…a balance."_

Ian nodded. "Perfect, and what would that balance be of?"

"_That Balance…" _Ben whispered, briefly pausing as he released a small cough. _"Is the balance…between what is just…and by what is not…"_

Ian scoffed. "Typical American, always with your head in the clouds." Ben struggled to regain control of his breathing, which was becoming harder by the minute as Ian began circling him again. Keeping his teeth clenched tightly together, Ben continued to listen to Ian's words.

"Let me re-define that for you, Gates." Ian said in a sly tone, kneeling next to Ben. "Life is more like a game of poker, and the balance in the world is like a match between two players."

Ben could hear the sound of Ian rising up to a standing position once again, and then felt a stabbing pain sweep across his body, coming from the center of his badly slashed back, where Ian now began firmly pressing his foot down into Ben's back, directly in between his restrained arms. Grunting and gasping deeply in reaction to the stabbing pain, Ben then felt Ian grab a fistful of his hair and yank his head back so that his face left the ground.

"There is no concrete distinction between right and wrong, Ben." Ian said coldly. "There is only the winner and the loser."

His breathing becoming lighter and his thoughts seeming to cloud over, Ben could hardly feel a cold, round, hollow, metallic object being pressed into the back of his skull.

"I am afraid that this time, Ben Gates," Ian said in a deep and low tone. "You have lost the game." Ian was just about to push his finger against the trigger when he suddenly heard one of his hired hands yelling in Spanish from outside. Startled and confused, Ian looked up, releasing Ben's hair from his grasp and letting his head fall limply to the ground. As he froze in the painful reaction of his head striking the rock beneath him, he listened as best he could to what was going on outside. Faintly, just very faintly, he could hear the yelling and shouting of voices not like the one's he'd listened to amongst Ian's men.

"Sir!" Ben heard one of Ian's men yell. "The police have found us, they've cut off the only way out, we are trapped!"

"WHAT?" Ian hissed loudly, leaving Ben's side and racing to the doorway of the hut, off behind the dark silhouettes of the city buildings, the lights from flashlights could be seen and occasional gunshots could be heard. The FBI was almost upon them, and closing fast. A raging inferno building inside him, Ian slowly turned back to Ben, his eyes wide and wild with anger.

"_You…were right, Ian." _Ben said with another cough. _"Life is…like a poker…game." _Wincing as he tried to move his arm, Ben took a small round object that he had been slowly slipping out of his back pocket for a few moments. As he held it in his gently clenched fist, he tucked his thumb underneath it and with one gently flick of his thumb, sent it rolling across the dusty ground towards Ian. Ian looked curiously and cautiously at the object, his heart leaping into his throat when he saw it glint in the dim light of the cavern.

"_No."_ Ian said shakily in disbelief as he leaned over to pick up the object, which stopped rolling at his feet. He picked up the object in his hand, and when he held it to the light, his eyes widened with horror. In his hand, covered in Ben's blood, was a Spanish doubloon, like the kind that would have been part of the treasure they'd been looking for all along.

"_It's all…about…the game, Ian."_ Ben whispered, a weak grin coming to his face. _"Whether you…kill me…or not,…you…still… lost."_

Ian said nothing. All he did was raise his gun up and fire three gunshots into the back of the still figure on the ground in front of him. Each bullet struck Ben in the back with tremendous force, paralyzing his thoughts and sending a large shock through his limbs. Almost all at once, his body began going numb, and his thoughts began to fade into the darkness and silence that surrounded him. His head once more fell limply to the ground, resting sideways. He could faintly hear footsteps growing quieter, telling him Ian was trying to escape. He prayed for his parents, for Riley, for the children, for Abigail, and for Sophie, for her memory to be honored. As blood began to pool around him, Ben closed his eyes for the last time, one final tear sliding through the blindfold and down his face. At the last moment, he made his thoughts about Abigail, to remember her one last time was his final wish.

"_Abigail,……I'm…..so…..sorry……."_

To Be Continued.....

Coming Soon:

Chapter 31: The Hands of Justice


	31. The Hands of Justice

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 31: The Hands of Justice

As the dust that had been kicked up settled from the air, Armando looked for his sisters, hoping not to lose them in the darkness. Reaching out his hands, he called out their names.

"Anita! Josephine!" He called into the darkness. Almost immediately, he heard a small coughing voice from behind him, and he felt Josephine grab his hand. Two seconds later, he felt Anita's hand.

"I'm here." Anita said, choking over the dust. "We're fine."

"Alright." Armando breathed, fishing around for his flashlight, which had slipped out of his wet hand when the door opened. Looking around, he saw a beam of light cutting across the floor nearby. He briefly left his sisters in the darkness and stepped forward to pick it up. However, when he did, he was startled when the light flashed across a shiny object lying flat on the ground. Behind him, he heard Josephine yelp in excitement.

"Armando, what is that?" Anita asked anxiously. Armando didn't answer. Silhouetted by his shadow, Armando slowly rose to his feet after kneeling down to pick up his flashlight, and Anita and Josephine saw he was holding a long, thin, metallic object. "Come, look." Armando said. Anita and Josephine stepped forward to see what their brother had uncovered, and both gasped as he shined his flashlight onto the object. Armando's flashlight revealed the object to be a long, metal sword, adorned with gold casting along the edges and the handle. Almost immediately, Armando turned his light around the room they were in, and almost lost his breath when he saw gold and jewels reflecting in the darkness.

"We need to find a bigger source of light." Anita said eagerly.

"Look!" Josephine squealed, pointing above them. "Candles!"

Armando quickly shined his light to the ceiling, which was not too far above, and saw a wooden chandelier built roughly from wooden planks and had candles stuck into holes that had been drilled into the wood. Quickly fishing through his waterproof backpack, Armando fished out a lighter and a small box of matches, breathing a sigh of relief to find them both dry. Handing the flashlight to Josephine, he and Anita quickly set to lighting the candles. Armando furiously clicked the lighter and lit the old wax candles, one by one, while Anita did the same, one burnt out match falling to her feet after another. After about twenty candles were lit, the cavern glowed luminously, drawing out the deep red limestone, and a sight which stopped all three children dead in their tracks. On either side of them lie a wooden table, adorned with a dark maroon tablecloth. Atop each table, lined up neatly as if on display at a museum, were at least two dozen more swords. Lined with traces of dirt and dust, each of them were made differently, one was cast with bands of gold running along the edges of the blade, while the nest seemed to be made with an ivory blade, curving slightly to create a sickle-like shape.

"What is this?" Anita said curiously, gently picking up one of the swords. As she admired the vertical gold bands which ran along the blade, she also saw in the flickering light there was writing etched into the blade.

"This looks like Arabic." Anita said, pointing to her siblings the writing in the metal. "I remember seeing this writing in a book at school."

"Wait, look at this one!" Armando said, picking up another sword. This one was adorned with silver, a deep red round jewel mounted on the center of the handle. "This looks like Russian writing, I think."

Anita looked closer at the markings, while Armando held a light to the weapon. Anita had a hobby of reading into European history, so he hoped she could figure out where this sword came from.

"Wow." Anita gasped. "Do you see the double-headed eagle etched into the sword here?"

"Yeah." Armando answered.

"That's the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Moscow." Anita whispered, in a state of shock almost. "More than 400 years old."

"Wow." Armando gasped.

"Hey, guys!" Josephine cried, stepping away from her brother and sister and peering into the cavern they'd discovered. "Look!"

Stepping back, Armando and Anita both drew in deep breaths as they were shocked to see the full contents of what they had discovered. From the flickering light of the candles and from Armando's flashlight, the children looked and saw that they were in a large cavern, at least three hundred feet in diameter, and piled everywhere were dark shadows, each of them glinting and shining in the light from Armando's flashlight. Looking around eagerly, Armando saw in front of them there was a large cast-iron grated basket filled with old wood and kindling. Taking a closer look, Armando could see that it had been burnt before, but there was plenty left to create a large fire. Gently pulling one of the candles from the wooden chandelier, Armando set the pile of wood ablaze. The dried wood ignited into a roaring fire almost instantly, brightly illuminating the room even more.

"Look, over there!" Josephine cried again. "There are three more fire pits over there!"

Scrambling through the darkness, Armando quickly took the lit candle in his hand once more and simultaneously lit the three waiting woodpiles ablaze. As he did, the room was soon as bright as the Arizona desert on the clearest of sunny days, and with it, revealed the true splendor of Sophie's treasure. Josephine found herself standing in front of what looked like a pyramid of tiny wooden chests, just like the one of their mothers' that they owned. As she gently picked one up, she could hear tiny metallic objects tumbling around inside. As she opened it up, she gasped when she found it to be filled with gold coins. Picking up one gently, she held it to the light, admiring it's shine. "This looks like it came from Greece or something." She declared, holding it up for her brother and sister to see.

"Yeah, that looks about right." Armando told his little sister. Looking on, he saw more treasures which looked of Greek origin. On a table nearby, there were small pots and goblets made of glass, some were painted with scriptures around them, others were adorned with jewels, and a few were even made of solid gold. Hanging from the table the dishes sat on was a hand-woven tapestry, with beads of many colors woven into the threads. Meanwhile, Anita looked over a heap of what looked like an old armchair, but after removing some fallen debris, soon realized she was looking at what was apparently some sort of throne, covered in markings similar to that seen on a chair recovered from King Tutankhamen's tomb. "There's stuff in here from Egypt too." She said, looking over several chests of things like jars, jewelry, canes, and even an old game board. Anita looked carefully at the small elevated game board, no bigger than a shoebox. It was built as a miniature table, the top adorned with tiny painted tiles, and in a small compartment underneath the tiny table, she found several little game pieces, all made of ivory.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Armando turned back towards his sisters. In a state of shock, they soon realized that it really hadn't sunk in yet. They'd found themselves so preoccupied with the history in the room, they'd barely noticed that they had actually found it. Armando's eyes crossed over the tables and piles of trunks, chests, and crates which contained treasures from what seemed like all over the world. In one chest, there was an old gold crown, adorned with red rubies and lined with silver bands, possibly dating back to the Duchy of Naples in Italy. A marble statue of César Augustus stood off to one side, complete with a gold sword cast into his hand. Opposite from the statue, was something rather surprising.

"Wait a minute," Armando said, pausing for a moment. "Is that what I think it is?"

Before the children was another large table, on the top they found several pieces of gold jewelry, statues, masks, bowls, and countless other objects that they could tell almost automatically were from long before the Spanish sailors brought the treasure from Europe. "This looks like it comes from the Aztecs."

"How old is this stuff?" Josephine asked curiously.

"A lot older than most of the other stuff here." Anita responded. She paused for a moment.

"There's just so much in here." Anita whispered, tears slowly coming to her eyes. "It's just so much history!"

Looking at each of his sisters, he knew what they were thinking. They were thinking of their mother, of how much she would have loved to see this, and of their grandfather. It still hadn't sunk in quite yet that he was really dead. "Armando?" Josephine asked in a soft voice, with a faint whimper as she tried desperately not to cry.

"Yeah?"

"Remember how Grandpa used to tell me the reason that the sky is blue?"

Thinking back, Armando smiled at the clever answer that Grandpa Joe had thought of when at the age of four, Josephine when to him with that question.

"I remember." Anita said, slowly cracking a smile. "He said that it was a window to the heavens, so all the spirits of those who have walked before us and since left us can still see the marvels of mother earth."

Armando nodded. "Right."

'I can almost see Mom right now." Josephine said, boldly looking up at the ceiling. "If I imagine the bluest sky, I can see her, and grandpa, and Nascha, and Sophie. They're all smiling."

Releasing a sigh, Armando started softly chuckling, Anita following him not much later. Laughing, Anita leapt into her brother's arms and hugged him tightly. Armando hugged her tightly as Josephine squeezed herself in between them.

"We did it!" They cheered again and again. "We found it! WE FOUND IT!"

* * *

Her heart racing, Abigail followed the faint footprints in the dirt as fast as she could, frequently smacking her flashlight in a desperate attempt to make it shine brighter. She had found the steel scaffolding that they had dragged in an secured to the cliff edge, and was now carefully tracking their footsteps through the winding streets of the Lost City. She could see dim impressions in the dirt and dust on the ground, among them was a thick pair of streaks, as if they had been dragging somebody. She could feel her throat tighten as she occasionally heard gunshots going off in the background, off in the dark shadows of the city. Keeping up her pace, she sped through the darkness, her way only illuminated by her small flashlight. She wasn't worried about running into Ian or any of his thugs, because with the mood she was in, she was actually hoping to meet up with one of them and give them a piece of her mind. It didn't matter to her, she just needed to find him. About forty yards behind her or so, along the winding pathways, Sadusky and three of her agents were trying to keep up. Her fists clenched, she kept her eyes on the path in front of her.

"_Please, God." _Abigail prayed silently. _"Please watch over him, keep him safe."_

Before she had even finished the last part of her prayer, she was startled by the sight of two feet on the ground in front of her, the feet of a person facing her. Looking up, she quickly brought herself to a standstill as she confronted her enemy face-to-face for the first time. Wiping the sweat from his blistered forehead, Ian breathed heavily in the darkness, saying nothing.

"_You…" _Ian growled. _"You've done this, you helped him wreck everything."_

"Damn right I did." Abigail spat angrily. "Did you honestly think you could get away with this?"

"_Oh, trust me." _Ian growled again in a low tone. _"I am leaving this place behind me."_

Abigail drew a deep, low breath when she saw him draw a knife.

"_Once I end your interfering once and for ALL!" _He roared loudly, sending his crackling voice echoing throughout the area. He began charging at her swiftly, the blade of his knife pointed outwards. She simply remained perfectly still, closing her eyes to the point that they were only open a crack. She had her hands at her side, making her look like she was accepting her fate.

_Three_

Her fingers twitched.

_Two_

She stiffened her hands.

_One_

He was four feet from her. Before Ian could even Blink, Abigail's hands flew to her waist and she whipped off her leather belt. As he wielded the knife at her, trying to slash her throat, she leaned backwards and could almost hear the blade slicing through the air. At the very same moment that she leaned back, she swung her arm as hard as she could, striking the center of Ian's chest with the belt, the leather cracking hard against the bone.

"HA!" Abigail barked loudly upon impact. Ian stumbled out of his rampage, howling in pain as he fell to his knees, the knife falling from his hand and rolling into the darkness. Before he could even react, she clenched her two fists together and slammed them into his back, between his shoulder blades, causing him to lurch forwards, towards the ground. She then kicked him ferociously in the stomach, barking madly every time she struck a blow to his shaking body.

"You self obsessed, ruthless, filthy, disgusting bastard!" Abigail roared, her voice echoing much louder than Ian's voice had before. She then took her belt in hand once more and began swinging it violently towards the ground, lashing Ian with tremendous force. The belt made a loud cracking noise every time it struck Ian, and before long he began to scream wildly in pain.

"_Abigail! Stop!" _A voice yelled from behind her. Gasping for breath after her rampage, Abigail watched on as the strikes rapidly decreased in force until she was tiredly waving the belt over Ian's trembling body. Sadusky approached her from behind slowly, seeing she was shaking violently. Sadusky stopped dead in his tracks a few feet behind Abigail, stunned at the bloody mess she had beaten Ian into.

"Jesus Christ." Sadusky cussed under his breath. "Abigail?"

Abigail kept taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. The trembling ceased, and she stood still in the silence.

"Abigail, step off to the side and-" Pete tried to persuade her to let them take over, but before he could even finish his sentence, Abigail swiftly leaned over, grabbed a fistful of Ian's charred hair, and jerked his head off the ground, Ian releasing a cry in pain.

"Where…..is…..he." Abigail demanded. Ian said nothing, spitting blood out of his mouth in her direction.

"Alright, let me ask you again." She said with a grunt as she then pressed her foot into his back and pulled at his hair tighter. "Now, tell me where he is before I break your neck."

After a moment of resistance, Ian slid his eyes closed and whispered in pain; _"Down this way, third building on the left."_

Without saying a single word. Abigail released Ian and raced off into the darkness. After Sadusky solemnly watched Abigail disappear into the darkness, he then slowly turned into his own anger. He slowly took steps towards Ian, kneeled down next to him, and roughly grabbed for his wrists.

"Ian Howe," Pete said in a low tone. "You are under arrest for one of the most cowardly and inexcusable acts of criminal activity I have ever witnessed."

* * *

Abigail's throat tightened as she came within sight of the third door cut into the stone, her heartbeat pulsating in her ears. She quickened her pace, her stomach churning with anxiety. A stretch of abandoned corridor within the city probably not even twenty feet long seemed to stretch on for miles, as she felt as if she couldn't reach him in time, not fast enough.

"Ben!" She cried into the darkness as she staggered into the doorway, the sight before her eyes causing her to freeze. Her blood ran cold, her heart skipped a beat, and every single breath of life left her body for what felt like none less than four or five seconds. She could feel the color leaving her skin, a droplet of river water falling to the ground from her still damp hair. It was almost like she just stood there for hours, staring blindly and blankly at the still figure lying in a pool of blood in the center of the room.

"BEN!" Abigail screeched, feeling the life flow back into her, almost as if she'd been struck by lightning. She flew to his side, almost tripping over her own feet as she fell to her knees. Setting her flashlight down next to her, she found herself slipping into an unintentional state of pause. She was almost afraid to touch him, but she knew she had to, he could be….

Abigail carefully touched the blood-soaked handcuffs which pinned his wrists together.

"_Abigail?" _Abigail heard Pete calling her name from outside. She then saw his shadow appear in the dim light shining through the doorway.

"Abigail, did you-" Pete asked while coming into the doorway, but the words were sucked out of him as he was confronted with this awful sight. He froze in silence for a split second or two.

"_No." _He muttered under his breath in denial. He watched as Abigail shakily looked up at him, her eyes red and watered.

"_Pl-Please…"_ She said in a shaky tone. _"Help me, help me…"_

Pete quickly rushed to Ben's side, opposite of Abigail. Frantically reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a utility knife and almost as if they were just a string, he cut the chain binding the handcuff rings together. Ben's arms fell limply to his sides, revealing the true nature of the torture he'd just endured.

"_Oh my God!" _Abigail sobbed, choking over her own words. Pete gasped in horror at the sight of the deep gashes criss-crossing his back, the worst sight being three jagged golf ball sized holes in his upper back.

"We need to turn him over." Sadusky said in a low tone. Without even responding, they both rolled Ben's lifeless body onto his back. Fingers trembling, Abigail reached to his head and gently untied the black cloth that had been tied around his eyes. Peeling it away from his skin, Abigail came to look upon a numbing sight, something she swore at that moment she would never forget. Ben's eyes were closed gently, his face emotionless and calm, as if he was sleeping. Streaks of dried blood from old wounds stained his skin while blood from new wounds ran slowly, the bandages they had applied earlier now tattered, torn, and caked with dirt. Abigail had never seen his face look like that before, even when he was in the deepest, most tired sleep. As much as it hurt her to see him like that, Abigail felt a strange, tingling feeling of calming in the pit of her stomach. Although she hated thinking of it, it brought her the smallest amount of relief possible. It meant that the suffering he'd endured was over; the pain was over; everything was over.

"_It's okay, Ben." _Abigail whispered in a low tone, so deep that Pete could almost clearly hear her dulled German accent. _"You're safe now."_

Trying to crack a smile, Abigail gently brushed the side of Ben's face with her hand, her fingers weaving through his hair, which was matted down and caked with dirt, blood, and sweat. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. Dabbing it on her tongue, she gently wiped his eyes clear of dirt and debris. She rested her palm against his cheek, almost expecting him to smile in response. But he didn't, and his skin was cold. She couldn't believe it; he was gone, he was _really _gone.

Trembling more violently now, Abigail lowered her head, and tears fell from her eyes to the dusty rock floor below. While Abigail cried in Silence, Pete looked at his friend numbly, still in a state of denial over what he was seeing. He had the rampaging urge to do something to help him, but his trained instinct told him there was nothing he could do. Ben wasn't breathing, and his skin had faded to a deep gray, so deep that it almost looked purple in the darkness; he was clinically dead.

"_Be at ease, my friend."_ Pete said in a soft tone, resting his hand flatly on Ben's chest. _"Be at peace."_

Abigail stared into the darkness beneath her, burying her face in her arms. What would she do now? Her first thoughts were of Patrick and Emily. _That was their only son in front of her. _She couldn't imagine what a blow that would be to them; she couldn't even imagine them seeing him like this. And then there was Riley, she knew he would never be the same without Ben. Her thoughts drifted back and forth , past all the people who would be affected by this. When her thoughts came to Pete, she reluctantly looked up to see him paused in silence, his head lowered, and his hand still on Ben's chest.

"Pete." Abigail whispered hoarsely. "We need to get help."

"I know," Pete responded. _"and fast._"

Abigail looked at him with a puzzled glare, as if he was speaking to her in another language. How could he rush into cleaning this up so fast? Shouldn't they prepare everybody first. Abigail felt as if she could hardly stand up, much less face all their loved ones right at that moment. She almost felt herself growing angry at him, feeling like he didn't even care that Ben had just died.

"Abigail." Pete said, Abigail slowly and numbly looking up at him. As he slowly raised his head, she saw a very weak, eager grin on his face.

"He's alive."

To Be Continued.....

Coming Soon:

Chapter 32: What Matters Most


	32. What Matters Most

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 32: What Matters Most

He's alive?" Abigail snapped hoarsely, her eyes widening as she looked at Ben's still figure. Pete held his hand firmly against Ben's chest, peeling away his blood-soaked jacket. Pausing in the silence, Pete turned his head sideways and concentrated on the nerves in his hand. Almost instantly, he could feel a slow, faint beat gently pulsating inside Ben's chest. Pete lifted his hand up, his palm glazed with blood. After wiping his hand on his coat, Pete then reached for Ben's throat. Once there, he paused again, and sure enough, found the same faint pulse. Almost immediately, Pete moved back slightly and took his coat off.

"_Chief?"_ The voices of the three FBI agents echoed from the street outside. Abigail could hear footsteps and in one instant, two men and a woman piled into the doorway. Right there, they froze in silence; the two guys stood petrified at the sight of Ben and the woman clasped her hand to her mouth in horror.

"Randy, get over here!" Pete shouted, catching the attention of the agent with short red hair. "Andy, you and Cassie go get help. NOW!"

As the other two agents shakily turned away and rushed off to get help, the agent Abigail came to know as Randy quickly rushed over to Pete's side.

"Alright, his back has been slashed open and he's been shot three times, but he's still alive."

Randy stared wide eyed at the pool of blood on the floor, and after a few seconds, began peeling his own jacket off. "Alright, we've got to work fast."

Abigail watched impatiently as Randy began drawing his fingers along Ben's ribcage, checking very quickly to be sure his ribs were not broken. Meanwhile, he reached for his radio on his belt, pulled it off, and held it to his mouth after switching to the right station with his finger.

"Foster?"

"_Roger."_

"This is Hendricks, are you in position to receive? Over."

"_Roger, am currently pointing in more law enforcement and paramedics. Over."_

"Copy that, I'm going to need as much help as possible, Spellman and Vincent en route to lead them in. Over."

"_Status?"_

"I've got a guy down, multiple gunshot wounds, massive blood loss, unresponsive, and faint but steady vitals. Over."

"_Alerting paramedics as we speak, they are en route to you. Over."_

"Copy that, alert Hospital in Flagstaff, prepare Trauma Unit One, have on hand units of-" Randy paused, turning to Abigail.

"Type O Negative." Abigail stammered.

"Type O Negative. Over." Randy repeated over the radio.

"_Copy that, Helicopter en route to location to transport victim to Flagstaff Medical Center. Over."_

"Over and out." Randy switched off the radio and threw it off to the side. Almost immediately after that, Randy proceeded to press his palms, one on top of another, into Ben's chest in order to begin CPR.

"Dr. Chase, do you know CPR?"

"You don't even have to ask." Abigail said quickly as she scrambled to Ben's head.

"We need to do this carefully." Randy pointed out with a nervous tone on his voice. "We need to help circulate blood throughout his body enough to stabilize him until the paramedics get here, but without causing him to bleed to death."

Immediately, Randy continued pressing rhythmically into Ben's chest while Abigail did mouth to mouth, delivering fresh oxygen to his lungs. Pete sprang to his feet and quickly paced through the door, and after a few moments, turned back towards Abigail.

"Here they come." He announced. Abigail briefly looked up as six paramedics poured into the room, a gurney being hauled among them. Abigail reluctantly stepped back as twelve hands gently but quickly lifted Ben onto a backboard, and then she watched as he was placed onto the stretcher. Altogether, almost like a bobsled team breaking into a run to get the sled moving down the slopes, the six paramedics broke into a swift, coordinated movement. A bag valve mask was brought out to help get air into Ben's lungs, one paramedic held it to his face while another pumped it, while at the same time, another paramedic kept administering CPR, to make sure his heart kept beating. Once they were out of sight, Pete helped Abigail to her feet, as she was still in a dazed state.

"Can you walk alright?" Pete asked worriedly.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Abigail said in a shaky tone as she staggered to her feet. She felt a little lightheaded, but she struggled to regain her footing. With Pete by her side and the other agents ahead of her, Abigail slowly started making her way back to the entrance of the city, where they had come in. As she was walking, she felt this chilling feeling casually sweeping across her body, as if she was standing in an ice-cold flaming inferno, blue flames licking up her body. The reality of the situation was still in her mind, clear as a bell. She'd been fighting this feeling off ever since he had first left for Colorado on his own, and it was the worst feeling she'd ever experienced. The reality was finally starting to truly sink into her mind; the awful truth that he might actually die. She'd only had this feeling one other time before…..

Then it hit her.

Her memories suddenly shifted gears and took her back to the drainage tunnel beneath Cibola, when Ben volunteered to stay behind in order to save her. She could remember seeing the fear in his eyes when Mitch grabbed her, and his request to her to get the others out. It was the moment she knew he was the one she wanted to be with. She then thought of little Josephine, a girl who was barely seven years old, and had experienced more loss than most people experience in their entire lives. She still couldn't help but think what it must have been like to witness something like what happened to Joe Salinas. At the same time, she couldn't help but wonder that maybe if they hadn't gone to Joe in the first place, his life may have been spared. It was almost surprising to her that the children weren't angry at them for bringing all this trouble on them. The whole time that Armando and the girls had been with them, they'd only focused on finding the treasure. Abigail came to understand they way they spoke of it before, and what Ben said. This treasure was of great value to this family, just as the Templar Treasure had been to the Gates Family. Although they had lost their grandfather, Armando and Anita and Josephine all felt they had fulfilled one of the few wishes that he had held dear to him, as had their mother, and Nascha, and finally, Sophie. Within a few moments, Abigail's chilling fears somehow seemed to melt away. Gathering her wits together, she tried her hardest and damnest to stay positive in her mind. She had no idea where to start.

* * *

Abigail followed as close behind the paramedics as she could, trying to listen in on what they were saying. She could barely understand any words the men were saying amongst the commotion, but she could see they were trying frantically to stop the bleeding. As she followed them back into the entrance to the lost city, a small piece of her already greatly diminished positive mindset was lost when she saw a small trail of blood on the ground, marking the path the paramedics had wheeled the gurney. Finally, Abigail felt a rush of cool, fresh air wash over her as she found herself stepping outside into what felt like a monstrous dust devil. She now saw the full extent of the work that had been done in order to make a more accessible entrance to the hidden cavern. The small hole that Riley had fallen through almost two days earlier was now replaced with an entrance large enough for a U-Haul moving van to fit inside it. As she walked along the piles of limestone debris, she suddenly felt Pete grab her arm.

"Wait, Abigail, you'll need to stay here for a while."

"What?" Abigail asked in an alarmed tone. She watched on as the team of paramedics pushed on. Through the blowing sand, she could see an emergency helicopter hovering only a few feet from the ground. Her first thought, as ridiculous as it seemed, was in astonishment at the fact that a helicopter could be hovered that close to the ground. Unable to find words to say for a few moments, Abigail watched carefully as the under frame for Ben's stretcher was collapsed down until it was only a large backboard, after which the six men, together with a cable suspended from a hoist on the edge of the chopper near the waiting open doors, lifted Ben off the ground and into the chopper. Abigail then watched, again in surprise, as all six paramedics clambered up into the chopper. She felt her own heart slow a little bit as the doors to the chopper slid shut. A small number of gentle tears formed in her eyes as she watched in silence, Pete standing by her side, as the helicopter gradually ascended into the starry sky. Almost as soon as it rose over the majestic walls and peaks of the canyon, it flew around in a semi-circle before swiftly turning off towards the south, blades buzzing madly like that of a bumblebee.

'They'll do everything they can do to help him." Pete said. "Why don't you come back inside with the others and we'll look at rounding all of you up and sending you to join him.?"

* * *

"Abigail!" A familiar voice cried out to her as she and Pete rounded the last corner. She snapped out of her daze and saw Emily running towards her, her arms outstretched. With her nerves twisting and turning inside of her, Abigail couldn't help but accept the embrace. Emily silently pulled her into a tight embrace, holding her for a few moments. As she was held, Abigail felt a few of her fears melt away. When Emily released her, Abigail began mounting up enough strength to tell Emily that she might never see her son alive again, _again_.

"They took Patrick off to the hospital in one of the helicopters." Emily said, looking out towards the entrance to the city. "Some of the agents told me that we're all being taken to the hospital in Flagstaff."

Abigail nodded. "I heard that, too." Abigail glanced over to Pete, who stepped away to take a call on his cell phone.

"Abigail." Emily stated, drawing back Abigail's attention. "What about Ben?"

Abigail paused, her throat tightened and her breath paused.

"I've asked everybody, but nobody seems to know." Emily said, glancing around at the other agents, most of whom were busy rounding up Ian's men. Looking at Abigail's face, Emily could tell she knew exactly what had happened to Ben, especially when she noticed the front of Abigail's pant legs were covered in a dark red, sticky liquid. Emily paused for several moments after seeing the blood, staring blankly at Abigail.

"_Oh God."_ She whispered, small tears slowly forming in her eyes. She began to release soft sobs, gently shaking her head in denial. _"He's not dead, please tell me he's not-"_

"He's alive, Emily." Abigail said, interrupting Emily. Emily stopped shaking her head, and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, but they kept slowly forming and rolling down her cheeks, for she knew there was more to the story. Although it was painful to think about, she could tell from Abigail's expression that it wasn't good.

"_H-How bad is he?" _Emily asked shakily. _"What happened to him."_

The moment Abigail had been dreading had finally come. She tried desperately to scan through her vocabulary, trying to think of the right words to use. She really didn't want to break the terrible news to Emily, but at the same time, her instincts told her that Emily had the right to know what had happened to her son.

"Emily," Abigail said softly, putting her hands on Emily's shoulders. "We should sit down."

Emily nodded gently as the two women backed their way against the wall of a nearby stone hut. Never letting go of each other, Abigail and Emily crouched down to the ground.

"Tell me." Emily asked urgently, clearing her throat. Abigail took several deep breaths before she could get the words out.

"He's pretty bad, Emily." Abigail said in a low tone. "Ian beat him so badly."

"Beat him?" Emily asked in a hoarse tone. Abigail reluctantly nodded, showing Emily the palms of her hands, still covered with dried blood. Emily froze at the sight of Abigail's hands, her face turning very white.

"And then," Abigail said, wiping her eyes briefly. She tried to stop herself from crying, but it grew to be too much. "_H-He sh-h-hot Ben." _She whispered silently as she began to sob violently into her palms. As Abigail secluded herself within the darkness of her eyelids, she could feel Emily slowly fall into her, shaking almost as violently as she was. They were both scared, and hurt, and tired, but Abigail tried to remember what she had been thinking of just moments before. Wiping her eyes again, she simply wrapped her arms around Emily, clasping Emily's hand in hers. The two women sat motionless on the ground amidst the chaos, most everybody passing them by without a moment's notice. Resting her head against Emily's back, Abigail held Emily's hand tightly and amidst her worries and fears and tears, she began to pray for him.

"Abigail!" A child's voice cried from out of nowhere. Blurry eyed, Abigail looked up and saw Josephine running towards her. Before she could even respond, Josephine wrapped her arms tightly around Abigail's shoulders. Abigail let go of Emily, Emily slowly sitting up and shaking away her tears when around the child. "Josephine!" Abigail exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

"I'm terrific!" Josephine said, almost out of breath. "Abigail, we found it. We found it!"

Abigail drew a deep breath, looking over at Emily. Wiping her eyes again, Emily slowly started chuckling softly, a weak smile coming to her face. Not long afterwards, Abigail smiled and laughed.

"I can't wait 'till you can see it, there's so much stuff down there!"

"I'm sure it's spectacular, sweetheart." Abigail said calmly.

"Wait!" Josephine said quickly. "Did you find Mister Gates?"

Abigail bit her lip, looking over at Emily. She wondered what to tell Josephine, but before she even opened her mouth, she saw the color strangely fade from Josephine's face. Abigail looked and realized that Josephine had just seen Ben's blood on her hands and her pants. Looking back and forth between the two women for a few moments, Josephine slowly crouched down and kneeled down next to Abigail.

"Is he hurt?" She asked softly.

Reluctantly, Abigail nodded her head. "They took him to the hospital with Patrick and Riley."

Josephine looked at Emily, and found herself frozen in the sight of the look on Emily's face. It struck a nerve deep within the little girl, triggering a memory she'd all but forgotten.

"Emily?" Josephine asked. "Can I give you a hug?"

Taken back by the girl's request, Emily blinked back another tear, smiling gently. "Of course, sweetheart."

Josephine gently climbed into Emily's lap and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Emily waited for a few moments, but Josephine didn't let go.

"When my Mom was really sick, my grandpa would get really sad, and he cried a lot. When he cried, we went to him and hugged him. He told us that it helped."

Smiling again, Emily put her arms around Josephine and held her tightly, tears rolling down her face. "Thank you, sweetheart." She whispered.

* * *

As the darkness of the night swallowed the Grand Canyon, an unusual spectacle had formed in the rocky valley on the eastern edge of Twin Butte. Large floodlights had been erected and over a dozen trucks and trailers had been maneuvered into the area. Helicopters flew back and forth, transporting supplies and people back and forth between the canyon and Flagstaff, about eighty miles to the south. Within two hours of the FBI's arrival, calls had been made to historians, archaeologists, geologists, scientists and general laborers to come in and complete two tasks; Explore and document findings in the lost city of Kokato, and begin documenting Sophie's Treasure. Now, over three hundred people filled the cavern to begin the work, with many more on the way. The entrance to the city had been cleared wide enough to fit motorized vehicles inside, and the city was now also illuminated brightly by floodlights.

While people rushed about, busy with their assigned tasks, Pete had been on the phone with one of the Paramedics who was looking after Ben. Seven different phone calls had been made, and by the time the seventh call ended, thirty-seven minutes had passed since Ben had left the Grand Canyon, and the chopper was nearing Flagstaff. Last he'd heard, Ben had already gone into cardiac arrest twice.

"Remember, we have orders not to release any of this information to the media until the situation clears better." Pete ordered sternly.

"_Yes, sir."_ The paramedic said over the phone. _"I've already told everybody who needs to know."_

"Good, keep me updated." Pete said, flipping his phone shut. Taking a deep breath of the cool night air, Pete turned towards the blue and white helicopter which sat atop a large flat slab of limestone nearby. This helicopter was fairly larger than the one which had taken the injured to the hospital, which Pete took note of as he climbed up onto the slab. Two men were re-fueling the chopper from two large tanks which had been lifted into the canyon by the helicopters. On one side, two large doors were open, its passengers waiting patiently in the silence. Pete quietly strolled up and peered into the cabin. On one side, Tyler was farthest in, leaning against the opposite door and fast asleep, a dull snoring coming from beneath the brown blanket he was wrapped in. Next to him, Armando and Anita were also sound asleep, leaning against each other and wrapped together in a blanket. On the opposite side, Emily slept silently, with Josephine napping in the next seat, and Emily's arm around her. Abigail sat next to Emily, wrapped in a brown blanket. She'd dozed off a few times, but couldn't sleep a wink, for her mind was too swamped with thoughts. Her eyes were barely open when Pete came into her view, and the sight of him automatically drew her attention.

"Pete!" Abigail yawned, her tone eager. "Any word of Ben?"

"Uh, yeah." Pete said, nodding and gently scratching the back of his head. "He just made it to Flagstaff a few minutes ago. Last I heard, he was in the Intensive Care Unit, and they were prepping him for surgery."

Abigail nodded, still trembling slightly from a combination of the shock of what had just happened and the cold of the night. Beneath her blanket, she could feel her foot twitching from her tapping her foot anxiously as she waited for them to take off. Taking deep breaths, she tried desperately to remain calm, but inside she was screaming like a deranged maniac.

"Abigail." Pete said, regaining her attention. "Ben's a tough guy. If anyone can survive this, it's him."

Abigail cracked a smile back at Pete. "Any news about Riley or Patrick?"

"Oh, yes." Pete said, snapping his fingers as his memory of the other two men transported to the hospital. "Well, they said that Riley had one broken rib and two more fractured, but luckily didn't suffer any severe internal injuries, and Patrick's dislocated knee has been treated and the last I heard, he was in recovery."

Abigail breathed a sigh of relief, being happy and thankful that they were alright. She just wondered how they were coping with the situation with Ben. Just at that moment, Abigail heard some thumping and thudding and voices shouting outside.

"Oh, looks like they're about ready to go." Pete said, leaning back and looking around the corner of the chopper. He saw the pilot going over some information on a clipboard in the cockpit, and then felt someone's hand touch his shoulder just as the blades above them slowly began turning. Without saying a word, Pete cracked a lucky smile and waved farewell to her just as another man in an orange jumpsuit slammed the door to the cabin closed. After she checked to make sure her seat belt was fastened, Abigail's flinched in reaction to the automatic lights coming on in the cabin. A few moments later, she could hear the sound of the rotors spinning faster, producing a loud humming. Barely two seconds later, she looked out the window and saw the rocks of the canyon moving downwards and felt her stomach pitch as they lifted off of the ground. To her surprise, none of the others even stirred in their sleep as the helicopter rose higher above the brightly illuminated work site beneath them. Looking beneath her, Abigail felt herself slip into another moment whereas it felt like time slowed down; the time during which she looked down upon what they had accomplished. Two great treasures, Sophie's Treasure and the Lost City of Kokato, two treasures rich in cultures past once thought lost forever, now found and back in the hands of the people. She cracked a soft, subtle grin at the thought of everything that would come from it. The lost city was an added bonus in the hunt, Abigail thought. She was taken back by how much the entire Navajo Nation could benefit from this discovery, regaining more of their culture and history. Sophie's treasure, the grand prize of the race, seemed to have a limitless amount of opportunities coming from the treasures it contained. Thinking back to how much people learned and enjoyed from what was found amongst the Templar Treasure, Abigail imagined what could come from this discovery, what more was there to learn?. She was reminded in that instant of the source for her love of history; the puzzle pieces which combined bring meaning and wisdom into the understanding of life. Although it sounded a bit corny, Abigail thought that to be the perfect explanation to what she was feeling. In turn of that thought, her attention drifted painfully back to Ben. It was indeed a grand site; but the excitement of the find was dulled dramatically for Abigail when she once again had to consider the fact that he might not even get the opportunity to see it.

"_Please watch over him." _Abigail prayed silently, closing her eyes for a brief moment. When she opened them again, she found herself looking out over the darkness of the Arizona landscape at night, the sky filled with stars under a nearly-full moon. Thinking back to what Josephine said before, about her wondering as a toddler about the color of the sky, found a single moment of comfort in the sight of the stars. She knew that if he did pass on, he'd be somewhere where he could see everything within the world, just like all the great men and women who had come and gone before their time.

Looking out at the stars, Abigail drifted into a haze of her own thoughts as she thought of Ben. She felt like her emotions were too worn and tired for her to worry frantically anymore, and she felt a gentle wash of calm sweep over her. She then thought of what could happen that night when she reached the hospital. She dreamed of just having one more moment with him. If that was all she could have, she would jump on it faster than she could blink. She wanted to hold him, and tell him that she loved him, just something to help him through the terrible amount of pain he was in. At that moment, nothing mattered more to her than that one moment. Not the treasure, not the lost city, not even making damn sure that Ian would never set foot on American soil as a free man ever again. Nothing mattered more than that one moment with him. While she remained hopeful, she couldn't help but look back at the stars, thinking that it might already be too late.

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon:

Chapter 33: The Edge of Death


	33. The Edge of Death

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 33: The Edge of Death

The city of Flagstaff glowed brilliantly against the nighttime sky, illuminating the desert landscape as the chopper made the final stretch of the trip to Flagstaff Medical Center. Abigail looked anxiously into the blur of lights beneath her, looking for the type of building a regional hospital is usually located within. After they had crossed into the city limits and passed over the downtown, Abigail felt her stomach pitch slightly as the helicopter turned towards the east. Abigail kept her eyes on the city below as the helicopter flew in another semi-circle.

"Wow." Josephine gasped from her seat, peering out the window. "It looks like diamonds shining in the moonlight, almost."

Abigail chuckled softly at Josephine's remark, finding the comment ironic considering their discovery. Anita sleepily rubbed her eyes, awakened by the faint glow of lights that was growing brighter as they slowly began their descent towards a large irregularly-shaped building nestled amongst the subdivisions on the northern edge of the city.

"Armando, wake up!" Anita said, nudging her brother. "We're there."

Armando gently rubbed his eyes and stretched, cracking his eyes open and glancing out the window. Leaning up from his seat, he looked out the window and could see the illuminated letters on the front face of the building, almost every window lit up, and eight flashing white lights surrounding a big blue dot on the roof. "It looks like we're coming in for a landing."

Abigail turned to Emily, gently shaking her shoulder. After a few moments, Emily stirred a bit and gently opened her eyes, releasing a soft yawn.

"Emily, we're there."

Emily blinked a few times to clear her vision, just in time for the entire cabin to jerk forward as the helicopter slowed into a hovering position over the landing pad. Unable to see the surface of the roof in the dark, everybody was caught off guard when the chopper made a rough landing, the cabin shaking from side to side briefly. Armando was almost jerked out of his seat and a still sleeping Tyler smacked his head against the window.

"Oh, hey!" Abigail cried. "Tyler, you alright?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah." Tyler yawned, dazed from the blow and gently rubbing his head. "My wife usually elbows me in the forehead when I snore, so I'm used to it."

Just then, everybody in the cabin jumped when the cabin doors were suddenly jerked open, a cold breeze sweeping through the tiny compartment as the chopper's blades began to slow down. Before them stood two men in black suits with badges hanging around their necks.

"Dr. Chase, I presume?" One of them asked.

"Yes?"

"I'm Agent Donovan." The man on the left said, nodding to his partner. "This is Agent Johnstone."

"Nice to meet you both." Abigail said as she carefully climbed out of the chopper, the wind whipping up her hair.

"We need to get inside." Agent Donovan yelled over the blowing wind. "We've got some matters to discuss."

"I think you're probably right." Abigail responded.

"Where's my son?" Emily asked demandingly.

"Mrs. Gates, your husband and Mr. Poole are in recovery, you'll be informed of your son's condition once we're inside."

Emily clambered out of the chopper, almost falling over as she tried to regain her footing. Armando and Anita also climbed out, then rushed to help Josephine.

"Are these the Salinas Children?" Agent Johnstone asked.

"Yes, we are." Armando said, putting his hand on Anita's shoulder.

"Alright, we'll get the three of you checked over in the clinic." Agent Donovan said, he and Agent Johnstone turning towards a door nearby. Abigail and Emily eagerly followed, the children and Tyler behind them. As they walked towards the door, Abigail felt a tight lump form in her throat. This was it, in a few minutes she'd learn if he had made it or not. She kept taking deep breaths, deep down inside wishing this was all just one bad dream.

* * *

"No, not Yates, _Gates!_" Riley barked hoarsely over the telephone, still a little lightheaded from the pain medication he'd been given. Combing his fingers through his gritty hair, Riley inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to remain calm as he tried to find out any news of his best friend. When he'd arrived barely an hour or so earlier, he'd been given so many drugs that he almost felt stoned, and when he first heard Ben had arrived, they'd simply pushed him back into bed and told him they would tell him more when a blood relative was present. Once Patrick had arrived and his leg had been treated and splinted so the wound could heal, Riley began pestering every nurse he could find, and once again to no avail. The only information they could get was that he was still in the ICU. It was enough for the time being, indicating that he was still alive. However, Riley couldn't shake that nagging, stinging feeling in the pit of his stomach that had grown so large that he was about ready to drink a whole bottle of Pepto Bismol in order to make it go away.

"_I'm sorry sir, but we don't have any more information on your friend." _The woman on the phone told Riley. Sighing heavily and glancing at Patrick, Riley faced another disappointment.

"Thank you." He said politely and hung up the phone. Slouching back into the armchair next to Patrick's bed, Riley rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Anything?" Patrick asked eagerly. His face grew slightly paler than before as Riley sadly shook his head. Patrick rested his head back into his pillow and stared blankly into the ceiling, the fluorescent lights stinging his eyes after being in the dark for so long. It was a father's worst nightmare; not knowing what was happing to his only son. He'd been through it so many times, he'd thought he'd gotten used to it by now, but Ben had never come so close to… Patrick shook his head, warning off those thoughts from his mind. He thought of Emily, where she and the others were right now, wondering how she was doing. His instincts told him that she was probably a nervous wreck by that point, but he knew Emily was a strong woman as well, just as was Abigail. Glancing across the room, Patrick's eyes fell once again on the small wooden cross mounted on the wall he was facing. It stood out in deep contrast against the cream-white walls, and providing Patrick with the only option he had left. Just as he had been doing a lot over the past few days, Patrick gently closed his eyes and began silently repeating prayers in his mind, prayers he must have said at least a hundred times over the past few days. Looking on, Riley saw what Patrick was doing and soon after, he leaned forward, crossed his hands together, his fingers reaching between each other, and bowed his head. The two men sat together in silence for what seemed like hours. Riley's eyes were watering when he suddenly heard footsteps coming down the hallway. For a few moments, he almost believed Ben would walk into the room, perfectly fine, but that dream diminished away almost instantly when there was a knock on the door. Riley looked up and saw the face of a man not much older than him peering inside.

"Mr. Gates?" The man asked, catching Patrick's attention. "Good, you're awake, and it's good to see you're getting up and around alright, Mr. Poole."

Riley nodded. "Thanks, Doctor."

Dr. Adamson was one of the doctors who helped place his injured ribs, which he could now feel wrapped tightly beneath a thick layer of bandages wrapped around his chest to keep them in place while they healed.

"Is there any word on my son, yet?" Patrick asked eagerly, his voice also very hoarse.

"I'm sorry." Dr. Adamson said in a solemn tone, shaking his head. "I haven't heard anything yet, but you do have some visitors."

They both looked as he opened the door and Emily and Abigail rushed in.

"Patrick!" Emily exclaimed, stepping to her husband's side and hugging him briefly around the shoulders. "How' you doing?"

"I've been better." He said, reaching for her hand in an attempt to comfort her. There was a sign in Emily that came around only when she was deathly worried about someone or something, and whenever it came around, she'd be on the verge of collapsing into a nervous wreck. Although he was pretty much on that same road in his own mind, he wanted to comfort her, at least be able to do that. As he held her hand, Abigail rounded the bed to where Riley was sitting. Without saying a word, Riley gently rose from his chair and hugged Abigail, who was also in a state of total silence. He held onto her for a few moments, as did she, both of them still recoiling over the past hours' events. As Dr. Adamson left the room, the four of them immersed themselves in each other's company.

"Did they tell you?" Abigail asked in a shaky tone. "Did they tell you about Ben?"

"Nobody will tell me anything." Riley said in an irritated tone. "The only news I've gotten is that he's in Intensive Care right now."

Abigail inhaled deeply, her throat tightening as her nerves all stiffened as if made from cement. She had dreaded this moment, just as she had when she told Emily about what had happened.

"Abigail, what happened?" Riley asked sternly. "What did Ian do to him?"

Trying to take deep breaths and prevent herself from slipping into another nervous breakdown, Abigail gently put her hands on Riley's shoulders. "I need you to sit down first."

His face slowly going pale, Riley shakily settled back into the chair. "Tell me."

Abigail sat on the edge of Patrick's bed closest to Riley, her eyes stinging and watering. She lowered her head, not ready for face the reaction she knew very well Riley would give her. She felt an urge of resistance against those memories surging in the pit of her stomach. Those memories, she didn't want to touch them, she didn't want to think of them, she wanted no piece of that memory in her mind. Yet still, it was burned into her memory because it forced her to once again realize how much he meant to her.

"Riley." Abigail said softly and in a shaky tone. "When Pete and I found him, he'd been beaten really badly."

Riley gulped as he tried to wrap his mind around the mental image Abigail had just inserted in to his thoughts. "How bad?"

"Bad." Abigail said. "His back was slashed and torn so badly, it looked as if he'd been mauled by a grizzly bear or something."

"Well, they can fix that here, right?" Riley asked nervously.

"That wasn't all that happened." Abigail said, her voice growing weaker. She looked up at Riley, tears still rolling down her cheeks. Riley looked at her worriedly as she slipped into a moment of silence, in a way she usually only did so when something very bad had happened. He looked at how she lowered her head, and it wasn't until that moment that he noticed the dried blood on her palms and on the legs of her jeans.

"Abigail?" Riley asked softly, a sense of alarm coming to him.

"_They blindfolded him, cuffed him, and put him on the floor." _Abigail whispered softly, reluctantly trying to tell Riley what had happened. _"Ben was shot three times in the back."_

Riley felt his body go slowly numb from shock, as if somebody had dumped a bucket of ice-cold water over his head. He barely knew how to respond to this. He slumped back into the backrest of his chair, staring blankly into the ceiling, not even bothering to squint at the lights which were blinding him as he stared into them. Wiping her eyes, Abigail looked behind her and saw Patrick, staring blankly at her, his face completely white.

"Ian went pretty far as to see that he got his revenge on Ben." Abigail said softly, staring blankly at the wall. The four of them sat in the silence, faced with the reality of how much he must have suffered.

"He must have thought we were all dead." Emily sighed, thinking back to the very last moment that she saw her son before that bomb exploded.

"You're probably right." Abigail answered. "Until he got my message." She said, looking at Riley.

"What?" Patrick asked in a puzzled tone. "How'd you send him a message?"

"Long Story." Abigail sighed. "After that camping trip to Winnipeg last year, we got these special transmitters installed in our watches." Abigail said, showing Patrick and Emily her own watch. "When I set the dial into a third setting, the transmitter from my watch sends pulses to his watch in the form of Morse code."

"Wait, what did you tell him?" Emily asked.

"I said that we were all okay, that Armando and the girls were going on to find the treasure, that the FBI was coming, and to hold on." Abigail said, painfully picturing in her mind the incident that had happened. She knew that for Ian to have done what he did to Ben, he must have held out right up until just before they could reach him. Just then, Abigail remembered what she had found on the ground near where they had found Ben. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the Spanish Doubloon that Armando had found in the tunnel, thinking back to where she found it in that room. She remembered finding it laying on the floor near what she was able to identify as what might have happened before Ian had shot him. She found the coin next to a set of footprints of someone standing in the doorway, facing Ben, who she figured must have been Ian. Not far from where she found the coin, there was a small puddle of dried blood on the ground, in the center of which was a circular indentation in the bloodstain which was the same size of the coin. That puddle was at the end of a thin line of blood running across the floor, from Ben's direction. Then and there, it dawned on Abigail that Ben must have thrown the coin in Ian's direction as the FBI began closing in. Thinking back to her memories of Ian, and of what a bastard he could be, she could see Ben's reasons for deluding Ian, showing him that they had tricked him, _again._ Abigail cracked a weak smile, thinking of how good that probably felt for Ben to have done that, but her smile faded almost instantly. Looking towards the door of the room they were in, thinking of what he was going through at that moment, where he was, or even if he was still alive.

"So, what can we do now?" Riley asked, rubbing his eyes briefly. Looking back at him, then at Patrick and Emily, Abigail took a deep breath.

"We pray." She said. Wait and pray."

Patrick nodded. "Where are the kids and Tyler?"

* * *

Armando sat in the silence of a deserted clinic hallway, the white and light cream colors of the tiled flooring, sheetrock walls and plaster tile ceilings brought back painful memories of his mother's last days. They were in the very hospital in which she had died. As tired as he was, he struggled to stay awake as he sat on a bench near the door of one of the examination rooms while one of the nurses checked up on Anita and Josephine. His clothes still damp from being in the water, he shivered a little every time the blowers from the fans in the ceiling turned on and off. He watched the door anxiously, waiting for his sisters to be done with the nurse. As he was watching, he noticed a dark figure step into the corridor further down. As his sights cleared, Armando looked and saw a police officer walking towards him. Slowly rising from his slouched position, Armando sat up to a rightly seated position. He twitched his fingers nervously, knowing very well what the officer's business was.

"Armando Salinas?" The officer asked.

Armando nodded reluctantly, not saying a word as he thought of how to explain his situation.

"I'm Officer Hart." He said, taking a seat next to Armando. "I'm here to help you and your sisters out."

"Okay." Armando said nervously. He watched as Officer Hart took out a notepad and grabbed a pen from his pocket.

"I just need to get a few facts from you." Officer Hart said, clicking his pen. "How did the three of you get mixed in with all of this?"

"We wanted to help them find something out in the desert."

"Them?" Officer Hart asked. "You're referring to Ben Gates and his family right?"

"Yeah." Armando responded. "Do you know if he's alright?"

"I'm sorry, I do not." Officer Hart said, scratching the back of his head. "I've also been told of a Mr. Ian How, and that he was responsible for your grandfather's death."

Armando nodded silently. Turning away briefly from Officer Hart for a moment, He reached into his backpack, which was sitting next to the bench, and pulled out his camera. Turning it on, he switched through the memory until he found the picture he had taken from under the porch of his house.

"I took that when they came to our house."

"How did you get under the house?"

"My Grandfather told me to take my sisters and hide down there when those men showed up."

"Ah, I see." Officer Hart said. "Now, how did those men happen to find where you live?"

"It's a long story." Armando said. "I can tell you everything I know, but I have a question for you first."

"Alright."

"What's going to happen to me and my sisters?"

"We can contact Social Services and they can find somebody for you to stay with."

Armando swallowed a lump of unease, hearing what he had dreaded he would. He knew that if they went into foster care, they would most likely be separated. After what had happened, Armando wouldn't stand for that.

"What if I can find somebody who can look after us?"

"It's possible that a plan might work." Officer Hart responded. "Do you have friends or family we could contact?"

"Yeah." Armando said with a reluctant tone. "I know of someone we could try."

* * *

Tyler stood outside the doorway for Patrick's room, having overheard what Abigail had told them about what had happened to Ben. Resting the back of his head against the wall, he repeated in his mind what had happened in the caves, what those men had done, and whether or not he himself could have done anything to have prevented that. Rubbing the dust and dirt from his face, he looked to one side, down the hallway and saw the Salinas children walking with a police officer.

"Hey, are you guys alright?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah, we're fine." Armando said, walking past him with his sisters and into Patrick's room, the officer following. Upon entering the room, he saw Patrick was asleep, Emily by his side, who was also asleep. Riley was asleep in his chair, wrapped up in a blanket and snoring loudly. Abigail was lying on the other bed, staring blankly into the ceiling tiles, looked up and saw Armando standing before her.

"Armando?" She asked, dazed. "Is something wrong?"

"Um, could we stay with you guys for a little while?" Rubbing her eyes, Abigail blinked to clear her vision.

"Yeah, sure." She said, slowly climbing from the bed. "You didn't even have to ask, of course you three can stay here with us for a while."

"Thanks, ma'am." Officer Hart said. "It'll probably only be until tomorrow, until I can track down their father."

Abigail blinked in confusion at the officer's remark as he walked away. She then looked up and saw Tyler step into the room with the same confused look. She snapped herself out of her confused state when she saw Josephine practically falling asleep where she stood, Anita not far behind her. "Here, you two can sleep here tonight."

Josephine sleepily climbed onto the bed, while Anita slowly shuffled her way along the edge, peeling back the covers. Anita settled into the bed first, Josephine followed by snuggling up next to her sisters. Abigail gently pulled the sheets over them, while Tyler grabbed another blanket from a nearby shelf and unfolded it, spreading it over the two sleeping girls. Within what seemed like a few seconds, both girls were sound asleep. After a few seconds, both Abigail and Tyler turned curiously to Armando.

"Your Father?" Abigail asked curiously. She and Tyler, who stood with his arms crossed, both knew their situation with their father wasn't a good one, as he hadn't had contact with Armando or Anita in over eight years, and didn't know Josephine even existed.

"I had to." Armando sighed. "They were going to call social services. We don't have anywhere else to go."

"Oh." Abigail sighed. Although she was a bit worried, she knew he was right about it being the only way to keep them together. Turning back to the shelves with the blankets and pillows, Abigail grabbed a pillow and blanket and handed them to Armando, who slumped onto one of the two benches along the opposite wall. He was asleep in less than a minute.

"They're tough kids." Tyler said with a brief sigh. "They'll be alright."

Abigail nodded. "I still don't know how we're ever going to be able to thank you."

Tyler shook his head. "It was all in a days work."

Abigail cracked a smile at his remark, but before long her gratitude waned when she once again remembered that their mission was far from over.

"Don't worry." Tyler said softly, trying to calm her nerves. "He'll make it."

Yawning, Tyler shuffled over to the other bench, where he collapsed into a motionless heap out of exhaustion. Abigail then retreated to another armchair near where the girls were asleep. She switched the light off, plunging the room into darkness before curling up in a blanket in her chair. As exhausted as she was, she couldn't sleep for a while. She stared blankly out the window at the stars, once again praying that he wasn't yet among them.

* * *

Barely seven hours later, the sun was rising into another crystal-clear blue sky. The sunlight peered through the blinds in thin blades of light, casting the new day upon Abigail's pale face. Stirring in her deep slumber, she groggily rubbed her eyes. A few minutes passed before the sunlight finally appeared in her vision when she slowly opened her eyes. Shielding the sunlight with her hand, she blinked wildly to clear her vision. Before long, other figures began to appear. She saw Tyler with his face pressed into the cushion of the bench, his arm hanging over the edge, while Armando was flat on his back, his mouth open and snoring dully. Josephine and Anita were fast asleep beneath a pile of twisted blankets. As soon as her alertness level rose, she then switched her thoughts to Ben. Trying to keep quiet, she quickly slipped her shoes back on and rose from her chair, leaving her blanket in a pile on the floor. Creeping across the room, she passed Emily and Patrick, both of whom were still fast asleep, and Riley, who was snoring under his blanket. Quietly closing the door behind her, she squinted as she stepped into the hallway, still brightly illuminated by the fluorescent lights in the ceiling. She set off immediately for the Intensive Care wing, which was clear on the other side of the building. As she stepped into the elevator, the memories which for a moment seemed as if they had been from a strange, twisted nightmare were now coming to life. In the reflection of the elevator door, the disappearance of the long blonde hair which she'd took pride in since junior high was now replaced with short, chocolate brown strands. Her clothes felt stiff and dry, as if she'd jumped in a pool of wet plaster before going to sleep, and when she reached in her pocket for her handkerchief, she felt the small ring box, still with tiny bits of dried blood from that dreadful night on the Potomac River flaking off of it. She anxiously tapped her foot as she watched the digital screen in the elevator's control panel, waiting for the symbol for the main floor to appear. The seconds seemed to going by slower and slower as she got closer to it. She fixed her eyes on the elevator door in the very last seconds before the high-pitched ping announced her arrival. As she watched on, the doors slowly inched open and the front desk came into view. Taking deep breaths, she quickly paced across the lobby in a constant stride, marching right up to within one inch of the counter's edge before ringing the bell so hard that it echoed throughout the entire lobby. After a few moments, a short woman with curly red hair shuffled across the space behind the desk on a rolling office chair.

"May I help you, Ma'am?"

"Yes, I need to get a status update on a patient."

"Alright, just need a name."

"Ben Gates."

"Alrighty, let me see here……..sorry, ma'am, no Ben Gates here."

Abigail's heart nearly stopped for two seconds, her eyes going blank. "I beg your pardon?"

"There is no patient here under that name." The woman said, smacking her lips as she chewed a piece of gum.

"Alright, there must be a mistake, he was flown in last night just before 10 PM along with a Mr. Riley Poole and a Mr. Patrick Gates, and last I heard he was in the Intensive Care unit."

The receptionist blinked a few times in silence. "Ma'am, that name is not on my roster here, therefore, the person you are looking for is not here."

Drumming her fingers madly on the countertop, Abigail shot the woman the look of a lioness stalking her prey on the African Savannah, about ready to pounce. "Alright, either your stone-age computer has a minor chisel error or you have temporarily forgotten how to read, but he is here and you are going to tell me where he IS!" She shouted, slamming her hands down on the countertop. The woman backed away from the countertop and was three feet from pressing a large red button on the wall with the label 'Security' above it when a familiar voice came calling from behind her.

"Wait, Stop! No, no, no, no, no, no!" A man's voice sputtered out rapidly. Abigail turned around and saw Pete rushing towards her, firmly putting his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm terribly sorry, ma'am." Pete said apologetically. "The person this woman is looking for was transferred to another hospital before she could be notified."

The woman nodded shakily, returning to her seat as Pete gently cajoled Abigail down a nearby corridor.

"Take it easy, tiger." Pete said in a low tone. Abigail swiftly took deep breaths, her eyes closed and fists clenched as she slowly paced along. After about twenty steps, she released a large breath and her body relaxed.

"Sorry, Pete." Abigail sighed in a haggard tone. "I'm just a little worn down."

"You don't have to tell me that." Pete said, acknowledging that he knew very well that she'd been through hell over high water to find that treasure, just as they all had.

"Pete, why did they tell me that he wasn't here?" Abigail asked urgently. "They wouldn't have done that without telling us, would they?"

"Of course not." Pete sighed. "Abigail, barely anybody knows that he is here."

Abigail slowed her pace for a moment. "What? Why?"

"This is still a high risk case." Pete said. "Ian's got God knows how many contacts out there, a number of whom could still be under orders to finish what Ian started."

"Is the treasure safe?" Abigail said quickly, knowing very well that was also their priority concern. "Is it safe?"

Pete nodded. "I've got practically half the state of Arizona sealing off that entire sector of the Grand Canyon." He said, rubbing the back of his head. "It's almost like Area 51 all over again."

Abigail breathed a sigh of relief, but almost instantly switched her thoughts back to Ben. "Where is he?"

Pete stopped in his tracks, turning towards her. "Abigail, the surgeons have notified me of a serious problem."

Abigail drew in a deep breath, which felt like ice in her lungs as she reacted to the urgency in Pete's tone. "Pete, where is he?"

Taking a deep breath, Pete mustered his wits about him to be able to tell her what he'd been told only a few minutes before. "He's in recovery right now."

* * *

Abigail stood petrified behind a wall of double-layered bullet-proof glass in the Intensive Care unit, almost completely isolated from the rest of the hospital. Her hand against the glass, she tried to focus on what she was seeing, making sure that she wasn't dreaming, or even just imagining it. Looking through the thin metallic threads concealed within the glass of the window, she saw a still figure lying face up on a hospital bed, completely immersed in what, to her, looked like a mist of gauze bandages and plastic tubes. The room he was in was very bare and stark, almost like a jail cell.

"Is he.." Abigail asked softly, her words trailing off into a dazed silence.

"He's stable." Pete said. He'd arrived at the hospital just after 2 AM to check on him and to secure the case. In all, there were about a dozen surgeons, nurses, and other various medical staff at the hospital who were told of Ben's situation, and they were given strict orders from the FBI not to disclose any information with another living soul. He and the agents working under him kept tabs on everything the doctors had to say about Ben's condition. Pete himself asserted very clearly that he would be the only person to disclose any information concerning Ben's condition to anybody. In addition, Pete made it clear to himself that only four people were to be informed of his condition; his parents, his (close enough to be) brother, and his girlfriend. As Abigail stood in complete silence, Pete reflected in his own mind the importance of this case. As a freemason, he'd wondered about the Templar Treasure for as long as he could remember, and the fact that Ben had been bold enough to stick to his guns about his intuition telling him the treasure was real had given Pete enough reason to gain a great deal of respect for the treasure hunter. Ever since that night at the hospital in Leesburg, Pete had been glancing at his gold ring with the emblem of the freemasons on it, something which he had paid more attention to since the Templar Treasure had been found. He'd taken more pride in being a freemason, which he had Ben to thank for, as well as Abigail and all the others. Unknown to others, he had participated in this hunt not only because it was his duty to insure the safety and security of the American people, but he felt that he owed it to Ben to return the favor.

As he looked at Abigail, how strong she had been through this ordeal, and how terrified she must have been, it reminded him of two things he was grateful for in his life. He was glad to be working for the FBI, to be able to make a difference for someone between life and death. He saw that greatly in Abigail, how she risked her own life and everything she had in order to do what she believed was the right thing to do. At the same time, he remembered how glad he was to have the understanding of the importance of history. He thought back to the first time he and his wife went to the Smithsonian to see the exhibits on what had been found in the Templar Treasure. At the time of the discovery, much of the treasure was briefly displayed at the Smithsonian before being distributed to over two dozen museums, libraries, historical organizations and galleries in their respective regions of origin. One exhibit which Pete remembered specifically was a set of old ceramic plates that had come from somewhere in the Greek Empire, dating back as many as 800 years. It consisted of nine plates, each adorned with scenes from the First Testament, as described in the Septuagint, the oldest known translation of the Hebrew Bible into Koine Greek. The plates were, when aligned in a specific order, telling the story from the book of Judith, a young woman of Israel who risked her life for her country. Pete remembered seeing the hand-painted depictions of the story of Judith painted in brilliant colors, adorned around the edges with gold leaf. The first plate showed Judith in life, a young widow who remained faithful to her husband even after his death; the second showed the arrival of the Assyrians and the land of Israel under siege by the invaders, while Judith remained in her house, surrounded by her maids; the third showed her being confronted by some of her neighbors, protesting against their plans to surrender to the enemy; the fourth showed Judith praying to God, in an effort to use his guidance to help her find the right thing to do; the fifth showed Judith removing the traditional widow's clothing and dressing in elegant dress; the sixth showed her and her maid going to the camp of the Assyrian leader, Holofernes, and wooing him into her trust by promising her assistance to him in defeating the Israelites; the seventh showed Judith and her maid beheading Holofernes in his drunken sleep; the eighth showed the Assyrian army fleeing in fear of the Israelites; the ninth and final plate was adorned with the fruits of Judith's labor, her homeland and people saved and Judith praying aloud, crediting her action to God. Pete smiled at his memory of this, and could clearly see some similarities between Judith and Abigail. She knew what she had to do in order to protect those she loved and what she cared for, and she took action, just as Ben had. While trying to stay optimistic about the situation at hand, Pete had all but forgotten that he still had grave news for Abigail, and for Ben.

"Abigail." Pete said in a low tone, preparing for the worst imaginable reaction from her. "Ben's condition is serious."

Abigail turned towards him, wiping small tears from her eyes. Still baffled by the sight of him connected to so many machines, Abigail tried desperately to turn her focus to Pete, hoping to reconcile her fears.

"Please tell me." Abigail said in an equally low tone, shuddering slightly. "I need to do something for him, I just cannot be this useless."

"Abigail, you are not useless." Pete said, stepping towards her and putting his hands on her shoulders. "You're very strong, just like him."

Abigail paused, forcing herself to take in what Pete had just told her. She knew sobbing and blubbering wasn't going to do anything to help Ben, so she shook her head in an attempt to shake out her fears, the fears which had been pressing down on her body like lead weights ever since Ben had been captured by Ian. Taking a deep breath, Abigail wiped her face clear of tears, facing Pete.

"Alright." Abigail said. "What do we do now."

Swallowing, Pete stood motionless for a moment before slowly looking in Ben's direction. Abigail followed his focus until she too was looking through the window at him.

"They said that he lost almost two-thirds of his blood." Pete said softly. "They were about ready to call the time of his death before they even wheeled him into the operating room."

Abigail felt her throat tighten, as if she was about to pass out. She tried reluctantly to get a visual image of what Pete had just told her in her mind, but to no avail. The thought was too horrendous, too terrifying.

"Pete?" Abigail asked. "Did he go into…" She asked again, her voice trailing off at the words she couldn't bring herself to say. She didn't want to know, but she knew she had to know.

"Yes." Pete whispered. "Eight times."

Abigail gulped, looking at him with an even deeper stare.

"But he managed to hold on, hold strong long enough for them to stop the bleeding and he underwent a blood transfusion. The wounds on his back were closed up and treated, altogether it was 208 stitches."

Abigail nodded shakily, trying to hold her ground emotionally and physically. "And what about the gunshot wounds?"

"Two of the bullets punctured his right lung, while the third narrowly missed his spinal cord." Pete said. "The surgeons have told me that he's going to need at least six more surgeries before he'll be at a point whereas he can begin moving towards a complete recovery."

"Is that the whole of it?" Abigail asked eagerly. "After that, he'll be fine?"

"Abigail." Pete said in the same low tone, causing her smile to fade. "Unfortunately, there were some complications during the first surgery."

"What?" Abigail gasped hoarsely. "What kind of complications?"

"Abigail, when was the last time Ben had an operation?"

Blinking, Abigail retraced her steps through her memory since she'd been with Ben. "Um, the last surgery I can remember him mentioning was when he had his appendix out, and that must have been at least ten years ago."

"He developed an allergic reaction to toe anesthesia usually used with this form of surgery." Pete said, recollecting word for word what the doctor had told him. Abigail blinked in shock, her mouth slowly hanging open.

"But then how are they going to do the surgery?"

"Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't operate on him."

Abigail felt her heart slowly rising into her throat. "_Normal_ circumstances?"

"Luckily for him, Ben's situation isn't one of them."

"So, he definitely needs these surgeries?"

"Yes." Pete said with a small nod. "He said he wanted to talk to you first."

Abigail suddenly felt an emotional jolt sweep through her body, as if the earth had shifted on its axis and nobody had noticed but her. "Woah, woah, wait a minute. He _SAID_?" She screeched, causing Pete to wince at the high pitched sound coming to his ears. "Yeah."

"So, he was actually conscious during the first operation?"

"Semi-conscious." Pete said, correcting Abigail. "They said it actually saved his life that he was awake."

Abigail raised an eyebrow and looked at him curiously. "How so?"

"It kept his heart rate high enough to stimulate blood flow during the transfusion."

Still taking deep breaths, Abigail glanced back at Ben, still trying to wrap her head around what she had been told. "So, you're saying he had to be awake during all six operations?"

"Most likely." Pete said. "During the first operation, its crucial that he stays awake and alert enough so that his blood pressure remains stable."

"What is the first surgery on?"

Pete paused for a moment, bracing himself again for the worst from her. "His heart."

Abigail's eyes widened. "What?"

"The bullet I mentioned which narrowly missed his spine nicked his pulmonary artery, which supplies blood to the rest of the body. It hasn't ruptured yet, but the lesion is in a spot whereas every time his heart beats, the damaged tissue starts to stretch and thin. If it bursts, an aortic aneurysm could kill him in seconds."

"Can it be fixed?"

"The surgeon told me that the knick can be repaired with a certain type of stitch which would stabilize the wound and allow the tissue to regenerate properly."

"Alright, how soon can we do this surgery?" Abigail asked eagerly.

"Abigail." Pete said softly, holding up his hands in an attempt to calm her down. "This is an extremely risky surgery, and considering his weakened state, his chances aren't good."

Abigail paused. "Alright, what are his chances?"

"According to the surgeons who examined the wound, between fifteen and twenty percent for this first surgery."

Abigail froze, her mouth hanging open. Still keeping one eye on Ben's still figure, she felt the trembling coming on again. She couldn't imagine how much pain he must have gone through.

"So, he'll die without this surgery."

Pete nodded.

"And what if the surgery is successful?"

"Then after a short recovery period, his chances would most likely increase to roughly forty percent, and keep increasing after that as he begins to get stronger." Pete said, swallowing a lump of anxiety in his throat. Looking, Abigail could see Pete was pretty nervous about the situation as well.

"Abigail, he's resting right now, but as soon as he wakes up and is alert enough to make a logically sound decision, there are some matters which need to be discussed with him.

Abigail nodded. "Can I go see him now?"

Pete nodded silently, feeling as if he'd already said enough. Her face almost white, she slowly walked towards a door in the corner of the observation room she and Pete had been talking in. She stopped briefly at a small steel sink mounted on the wall nearby and quickly washed her hands, splashing cold water on her face. As she dried her hands and face, she rubbed her eyes, trying to make it look like she hadn't been crying, but to no avail. As she reached for the door knob, she kept trying to take deep breaths, trying to remain calm. As she slowly opened the door, a wave of warm air washed over her. As she breathed it in, she could tell it was cleaner, expected to be found in the ICU of a hospital. Her eyes once again fell on the still figure. As she walked across the room, she glanced around at the surroundings. Bare plaster walls painted beige were hardly comforting to her in that situation. As she walked closer to his side, she could hear her own footsteps echo throughout the room. She held her breath out of nervousness right up until she stood directly at his side. She took a deep breath as she looked down at his face. There were gauze bandages wrapped around his forehead, cutting through his hair, while small bandages covered several of the small knicks and scrapes on his face and throat. Past his collarbone, his chest was encased in a layer of gauze bandages, with the edge of a large patch visible on his back. As she looked at his face, she was slowly starting to recognize him. She looked and saw his face was calm, his chest slowly rising and settling with each breath. She needed to see that; it reassured her that he was still fighting, that he still had a chance to make it. At that moment, just as it had before back in the lost city when Ian first tried to kill him, the reality of the fact that it was really him laying there, within inches of death. Reaching down shakily, she gently took his hand. Kneeling by his side, she slowly collapsed into the side of the bed, sobbing into the covers uncontrollably. As tears flooded from her eyes, she prayed for him. There was still so much for the two of them to do together. He couldn't miss it.

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon:

Chapter 34: The Last Fight


	34. The Last Fight

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 34: The Last Fight

Abigail sat at his bedside for what seemed like hours, just continuously staring at him as he slept. Her eyes and thoughts periodically drifted to the numerous machines surrounding them, each of them with a wire or tube running into his body. Although she had no clue what any of them were or what they were specifically for, she couldn't help but think that their presence must mean that things had gotten bad. As she held his hand gently, she continued to wait for any sign of life in him, hoping he would wake up. She needed to hear his voice, hear his words, just to talk to him. Before long, she slowly began staring off into space as her thoughts began to drift off in her mind. It may have been the exhaustion or it may have been the worrying, but Abigail finally reached a point whereas she felt her nerves relax and her imagination seemed to set itself on replay. She came back to her memories of the Templar Treasure. While workers were down in the cavern cataloging all the artifacts, she and Ben were participating in the work. She remembered how she admired his enthusiasm in finding meaning in every little scratch, symbol, and indent he could find, almost like he couldn't get enough of it. She chuckled softly at the memory, almost not feeling his hand that she was holding begin to move. She snapped out of her daze when she felt him gently grip her hand. She drew in a deep breath when she heard him begin stirring in his sleep.

"Ben?" Abigail whispered eagerly, moving closer towards him. "Can you hear me?"

She looked on with hopeful eyes as his eyelids twitched a few times before slowly cracking open. Ben took a deep, slow breath, blinking several times as his vision cleared. Within a few moments, he was able to fully open his eyes and look up at her. _"Abigail." _He whispered in a hoarse tone.

"It's alright, Ben." Abigail said calmly, taking his hand again in both of hers. "I'm here."

"_Are you alright?"_ He asked eagerly, clearing his throat. _"You're not hurt, are you?" _He said, slowly trying to sit up.

"Ben, calm down, take it easy." Abigail said, releasing his hand and putting them on his shoulders. "I'm alright."

"_Wh-where are the others?" _Ben stuttered. _"Are they all alright?"_

"Ben." Abigail said again in her stern tone, trying to get him to stay calm. "Don't worry, we're all fine. Riley has a few broken ribs and your dad hurt his leg, but they're both fine now, your mom is with them right now."

"_What about Armando and the girls and Tyler?"_

"They're all fine."

"_And Ian?"_

"Don't worry about him, Ben." A voice said from across the room. Abigail turned around and saw Pete standing in the doorway. "He won't be bothering you anymore."

Ben lifted his head to see his old friend standing in the doorway. _"Hey, Pete." _He groaned.

Pete slowly made his way across the room, trying not to get Ben too excited or anything. "So far, we've made eighty-four arrests in five different states, a lot of high profile wanted persons are now in custody."

Ben said nothing, only giving a small nod as he reclaimed his firm grip on Abigail's hand.

"Ian's been taken to the maximum security prison in Phoenix." Pete said, crossing his arms. "I escorted him there myself."

Ben gulped a twisted knot of nervousness down his throat, gently nodding his head. "Thank you Pete, for everything."

"Actually, the credit for catching Ian goes to Laura Croft over here." Pete chuckled, putting his hand on Abigail's shoulder. "She really did a number on the guy."

Ben looked at Abigail, still holding his cracked smile as he lifted his hand from the bed and rested it under her chin. _"Go get em' Tiger."_ He whispered.

Abigail laughed silently as Ben touched the side of her face, beginning to recognize the guy she'd fallen in love with all over again; he was back. Turning towards Pete, Abigail was on the verge of blinking back the kind of tears she'd wondered would ever fall from her eyes again. They were tears of Joy. _"Thank you so much."_

"Just doin' my job." Pete said, giving Ben a wink so small he hardly noticed it to me nothing other than a flinch. "You get some rest now, alright?"

Ben cracked a weak smile and nodded as Pete left the room. Turning back to Abigail, he continued to hold his hand to her face, her wrapping her hand around his wrist. He looked into her eyes, and could see something that troubled him a great deal, making him very uneasy. Her bluish-green eyes seemed as if they had faded to a shade of gray, something he'd never seen in Abigail as long as he had known her.

"_Don't worry, Abigail." _Ben whispered, gently stroking the side of her face with his hand. _"It'll be alright."_

"Ben, there's something we need to talk about." Abigail said. Ben lowered his hand, still holding onto hers. "Pete told me about your condition."

"I already know, Abigail." Ben said, his voice clearing and his breathing hard. "They told me when I first woke up. Six operations, gotta be awake for all of them."

Abigail watched as his smile faded, which told her that he knew all about what Pete had just told her, about the complications, the risks, and the fight he still had to put up in order to make it through this.

"Did they tell you?" Ben asked. Abigail nodded, looking away from Ben, down towards the floor. He could see she was scared, as he saw her tremble every few seconds.

"Abigail?" Ben asked in a low tone. "Look at me. Look at me, Abigail." He said sternly, drawing in her attention. He gently and shakily reached up and took her by the arm, pulling her closer towards him.

"Did they find it?" He asked. After a few moments, Abigail wiped a tear from her eye with her finger, and gently nodded her head, cracking a smile. Ben slowly and gently rested his head back, slowly closing his eyes as he breathed a very deep sigh of relief and satisfaction. He laid there in the silence, thinking of Sophie. In his mind, he imagined her face, and she was smiling. He could see her face so clearly, that it was almost like he could reach out and touch her. There were so many things he wished he could tell her. His eyes watering, Ben slowly opened his eyes, a wide grin slowly coming to his face. _"Thank You."_

"For what, Ben?" Abigail asked. He glanced over at her, beginning to see one of Abigail's best qualities standing out more than he'd ever seen before. "Thanks for believing in me, and in yourself."

Abigail cracked a smile, still occasionally rubbing her eyes. She thought back to the whole experience of finding the lost city, and how much had come out of it. "It was so much, Ben. It was terrifying, what they did to you, and it was aggravating, that they were so senseless and careless to things that were so important. It was also amazing, thinking of how much history we've found."

Ben nodded with a weak smile. "That's what matters most." He said, his voice growing slightly hoarser. "That's what we set out to accomplish from the start, after all."

Abigail smiled in agreement. "Well, Pete says its being guarded as we speak. They've called in probably hundreds and hundreds of people to look at the lost city, but the treasure is on hold in terms of cataloging."

Ben blinked gently, shaking his head in confusion. "Why? Why wait?"

"Armando and the girls wanted it to wait." Abigail said. "Until we can all see it as one treasure."

Ben cracked a weak smile, which seemed to fade all too quickly. At that moment, both of them were once again forced to confront the reality of the obstacle that was still ahead of them. Abigail was overjoyed to see that glint in his eyes when he first heard that Sophie's Treasure had been found, but she quickly lost her grasp of that happy feeling when it was replaced with the twisting, wrenching feeling deep in her gut that reminded her that he many never get to see the treasure. She felt herself get the urge to look away from him as she began to feel tears returning to her eyes. But she didn't dare leave his side, she only blinked a few times to subdue the tears. After a few moments, Ben could see the fear resurfacing in her eyes.

"Abigail?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember what I told you about the Founding Fathers?" Ben asked, wincing as he tried to position himself on the bed better. "And about the Freemasons?"

Thinking back, Abigail slowly began to remember the stories he had told her, the stories she had once referred to as 'conspiracy theories', which were actually the strong beliefs and values the forefathers held close to their hearts and in their minds firmly, the very ideals and dreams which helped the nation around them become a reality. "Yes, I remember."

Holding her hand as tightly and firmly as he could, Ben looked her directly in the eyes, praying she would understand what he was about to disclose onto her.

"My Grandfather once told me that we're all given our own opportunities, our own challenges, and our own battles."

Abigail nodded silently, taking into account what had happened as to what he referred to as 'battles'.

"I've got one doozy of a battle to fight soon, and I will fight it." Ben said, keeping his sights fixed on Abigail's eyes, making sure he had her complete focus. "And I will not give up, I _will not _give up on you. Not without a fight."

Abigail nodded, unable to find the words needed to respond to that kind of remark. She had complete faith that he would put up one hell of a fight, as she had seen how he fought for what he believed in when he was truly determined on something. Yet at the same time, she knew this battle was operating by a lot of mechanisms that were far beyond his control. She could see in his eyes and his expression that he knew it too.

"Which in turn means that you'll have your own battle on your hands, as will Riley and as will my parents." He said in a reluctant tone.

Abigail gulped as she processed his words in her mind, all the words together started triggering another upsurge of emotions from deep within her; fear, anxiety, anger, hate, thoughts that she absolutely hated feeling, but couldn't help but acknowledge the truth about what he was saying. Memories flashed through her mind of that moment at the drainage tunnel, when he volunteered to stay behind in order to save her, when he almost gave his life for her. Here she was facing that moment for the third time in the past two days. He was telling her that she needed to be strong, for her sake, but at the same time, he was bringing himself to say goodbye.

"Promise me, Abigail." Ben pleaded, his face calm but serious. "Promise me that you'll fight."

Abigail nodded, this time taking her hand and resting her palm against the side of his face. He gently closed his eyes and tilted his head over into her hand, until she was cradling the side of his face. As she gently stroked his cheek with her finger, he felt his stability inside him melt away, the warmth of her touch on his face reaching deep within him, reaching all the way to his heart, his thoughts fading into a shroud of mist concealed within his mind. Never before had he been more glad, more thankful to be in her presence, as she had the power to make his doubts, his fears, his deepest regrets just melt away with a touch of her hand. Abigail watched quietly as a singe tear rolled down from his eye on the opposite side of his face. She saw his energy was giving out, and he needed to rest.

"Ben, you need to rest now." Abigail said, turning to leave and let him have some peace and quiet.

"_No, wait!" _Ben whispered, reaching for her arm. _"Stay, please."_

Abigail looked at him as he gently opened his eyes just a crack, breathing heavily as he struggled to stay awake. Abigail watched as he gently and slowly moved his body over a few inches, making enough room for her to curl up nest to him. She looked at him with her eyes watering, looking at him as if he'd just read her mind. Without saying a word, she gently laid down on the bed next to him. He gently put his arm around her as she settled into the bed, curling up next to him and gently resting her head on his shoulder, making sure not to pull out or pinch any wires or tubes. Her mind at ease, Abigail numbly let a few tears roll from her eyes, tears that she felt she'd been holding back ever since Ian first came into this picture.

"_It's alright Abigail, I'm right here." _Ben whispered, holding her with his arm as tightly as he could. His energy leaving him, he was finding it harder to stay awake. _"I'm right here."_

"_I Love You."_

"_I Love You, too." _Ben whispered, gently kissing the top of her head. Within seconds of that kiss, he could tell she was fast asleep, just as exhausted from the experience as he was. As he drifted back into a deep sleep, he thought in his mind of how thankful he was for the opportunity to try to comfort her, to at least be able to do that for her after she'd done so much more for him.

* * *

The hospital cafeteria was abuzz with activity as the morning sun rose over the city of Flagstaff. The sun shined in through large windows adorned with clear and tainted blue glass, casting colorful patterns on the multitude of round white tables which filled the room. Some patients were shuffling about or enjoying their meals, some of them with friends and family in their company. In the food line, people waited eagerly to make their way through the buffet of breakfast food, which was a rather large arsenal for a hospital. Armando had barely made it half-way down the line when he filled in the last space on his plate, having piled high scrambled eggs, sausage links, a Belgian waffle the size of his hand, and two thick slabs of toast. His eagerness to devour the food before him faded when he saw his sisters, moving sluggishly along the line in a cone of silence. Josephine had only picked from the line a bowl of fruit loops and three grapes, while Anita had a half slice of toast and a small banana. After they each grabbed a glass of orange juice at the end of the line, Armando watched as his sisters silently took their seats at a table. As he joined him, he could already tell what was bothering Anita; the idea of tracking down the person who abandoned them and hadn't even bothered to acknowledge his place as their father for over eight years. With Josephine, on the other hand, she could only analyze the situation with the man she'd never even met based only what her brother, sister, and grandfather had told her, none of which was anywhere near enough for her to create a positive image of him in her head. While Josephine slowly munched away at her cereal, Armando demolished the pile of food before him, trying desperately to ignore the angry glares that Anita was making, aimed in his direction. Every time that he saw a look come to her face that hinted she was about to say something cross towards him, he firmly pressed his foot down on top of hers, a slight wince on her part as a warning not to say anything in front of Josephine. Armando watched carefully as Josephine finished the last of her cereal, then slowly gulped down her milk. Not saying a word, she scooted out of her chair and turned away from her brother and sister, shuffling slowly towards the countertop on the opposite side of the room where dirty dishes were to be put. As soon as she was out of hearing distance, Armando immediately turn to his other sister.

"Anita."

"What on earth were you thinking?" Anita cussed, kicking him in the shin. "Do you honestly believe we'd be better off with him?"

"Anita, listen-"

"Have you forgotten about all the terrible things he did to us? To Mom?"

"_ANITA!"_ Armando snapped, gaining the attention of some of the other diners around them. The two of them slipped into a conscious mode of silence until the strange looks cast in their directions faded.

"Anita." Armando muttered under his breath in a stern tone. "We have nowhere else to go."

Anita sulked back into her chair, reluctantly realizing that he was right. Now that their grandfather was gone, he was the only family they had left. It seemed as if their future as a family depended on their father, as Foster Care would most likely mean separating the three of them. "I'm just worried."

"I know." Armando sighed, leaning over his empty plate. "I am too." Watching as Anita stared blankly into the white surface of the table, Armando knew that they needed to find a way to stay positive about their situation.

"Eight years is a long time, Anita." Armando said softly. "Maybe he's a little more collected than he was before."

Anita nodded after a brief pause in thought. "Maybe you're right."

Seeing that she was still nervous, he looked to his side in order to turn her attention to the little girl slowly making her way across the room.

"We need to do this." Armando said softly. "For her."

* * *

Riley sat in silence on a stool which he had pulled up next to Ben's bed, opposite from Abigail's soundly sleeping figure. Gently slouching forward, he had his arms crossed, resting them on the edge of the bed. As he took a deep breath to settle his nerves, he felt a small stab of pain coming from his chest, where he had struck that rock in the water. At the same time, he couldn't help but notice this tingling feeling coming from beneath the encasement of bandages protecting the bullet wound on his arm. He hoped that feeling meant it was healing, but at the same time it was driving him crazy. Even with all this, he couldn't ignore the situation that his best friend was in right before his eyes. Pete had told him about Ben's chances; the facts that said there was only a one in five chance that he would survive the operation to fix what that _scumball _did to him. Riley kept thinking about how if Ben didn't survive, he would walk all the way to the prison in Phoenix, push the guards aside and throttle the living daylights out of Ian with his own bare hands. His hands clenched together, he did the only thing he felt that he could. He simply lowered his head and prayed in silence. However, he'd only gotten through a few words when he heard a small groan coming from Ben's direction. Looking up, Riley blinked and saw Ben's face moving, his eyes gently twitching.

"Ben?" Riley whispered, moving closer to his friend. "Can you hear me, Buddy?"

"Riley?" Ben whispered softly, his eyes still closed. After a few moments, Ben's eyelids twitched again and his eyes slowly opened.

"It's alright, Ben." Riley said, taking his friend's hand and clenching it tightly. "I'm here."

"Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"When was the last time you had a bath?"

Raising and eyebrow, Riley turned his head to the left and right, taking a whiff before realizing what he was doing and rolling his eyes.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Riley hissed. "You're worse than Abigail!"

"Shhh!" Ben hissed back at him. "Please don't wake her up."

Taking a deep breath, Riley settled back into his seat. "Alright."

Ben rested his head back, still looking at his best friend. "You did good, Riley."

Riley cracked a smile, gently nodding his head. "Thanks. He whispered.

It didn't take long for Ben to see the same expression on Riley's face that he had just seen on Abigail's face not too long ago. "Did they tell you?"

After a brief pause, Riley gently nodded his head.

"Riley."

"Now, Ben-"

"_Riley!_" Ben hissed at his friend, reminding him to stay calm so as not to wake Abigail. "Remember the Freemasons?"

Riley paused again, remembering exactly what he'd learned from the stories Ben had told him countless times. "Yeah, I remember."

From the look on Riley's face, Ben could tell that his friend understood why he had mentioned the stories of the Freemasons. He hated doing this to people he loved and cared about, but he felt as if he had no choice. Riley looked at him with that same subtle look that Abigail had given him, that look of feeling completely useless to help the person he knew like a brother. Ben could see how hard he was trying not to cry, but Riley was losing the fight as his eyes started watering.

"Now Riley, you listen to me." Ben said, tightening his own grip on Riley's hand and pulling him a little closer to himself. "Do you want to do something to help me, because I could really use a favor."

Shakily nodding his head, Riley wiped the tears from his own eyes with both hands. "Of course, Ben. Anything at all."

"I want you to tell Sophie's story for me." Ben said in a soft tone. "We should still have scans of the diary pages back in Washington."

"But Ben," Riley asked in a confused and nervous tone. "Why are you asking me to do it?" Deep down inside, Riley knew the answer to that question, but didn't want to accept it.

"Because you're the writer." Ben said. "You know so much about historical fiction, it shouldn't be a problem for you."

Riley's throat tightened as he continued to hold his best friend's hand tightly, trying to digest what Ben was telling him. "I promise Ben, I'll do anything I can to help you."

"Alright." Ben said softly, mustering up his wits as he prepared to disclose upon his best friend one of the most difficult requests he'd ever made to Riley. "I want you to look after them for me."

Riley's face went very calm as he fixed his eyes on his best friend, his eyes beginning to water again.

"I don't want to ask you to do anything you can't do, but if you could just be there for them, it would mean a great deal to them, and to me." Ben said softly, wishing and hoping Abigail didn't hear him. Wiping his eyes again, Riley refocused his attention directly from Ben, shaking off his nervousness.

"You didn't even have to ask me that, Ben." Riley said calmly. "We're family." Ben smiled, his own eyes watering slightly. Riley had really proved his true colors to the world over the past few weeks, and Ben had never had more respect for his best friend and little brother at any other moment than that one. With a swift, gently tug, Ben pulled Riley towards him. Riley completed the motion by bending over and giving Ben a gentle yet firm hug.

"I promise I won't ever give up." Ben said in a low tone. "But if something happens, just promise me you'll be there for them."

"I promise, Ben." Riley answered in the same low tone, holding Ben's shoulders tightly. "I promise."

A few hours later, Patrick and Emily were called down so they could see their son. The doctors warned Patrick that he would have to stay off his leg for a few weeks, so Emily pushed him down the halls in a wheelchair, led by Pete. Emily seemed to be in a daze of her surroundings as she pushed Patrick along, occasionally flicking strands of her hair out of her eyes with her finger. She had since shed her extensions and returned to her own curled hairstyle, while Patrick had taken his false beard off. It felt good to retrieve their old identities, but it was bittersweet as both of them knew that within a few hours, both of them might lose a large piece of who they were.

"When is this surgery going to start?" Patrick asked, his elbows resting on the armrests of the wheelchair and his hands together beneath his chin.

"At six o'clock this evening." Pete said in a low tone as he walked. "It should take about six hours."

"Why so long?" Emily asked.

* * *

Pete looked up as they walked through the open double doorway which had the title 'Intensive Care Unit' above the doorway. "There's a lot to fix." He sighed as he led them down the main corridor. He'd explained to them how the gunshot wounds had compromised his condition, how two of the bullets had punctured his lung while the third had caused the most serious damage to his heart. During the first surgery, he'd lost so much blood that he was on life support for the duration of the first surgery. He'd been breathing through a ventilator while surgeons quickly worked to seal up the damage done to his lung. They successfully managed to stitch the holes over to the point where he could breathe on his own and the lung could start healing, but he knew that it was crucial that Ben receive the surgery to repair the tear to the fragile tissue of his aorta before it burst. However, there was still a few matters of business that he needed to attend to first. As Pete led them out of the main corridor and down another hallway, Emily began to feel that surging feeling in the pit of her stomach, the kind of feeling that every parent dreads and fears more than anything. It was also the fact that she'd felt this feeling more times in the past two and a half weeks than she had since 1964 which made her so angry at this whole situation. As they got closer to the room where Ben was resting, Emily felt Patrick reach over his shoulder and touch her hand, reminding her that she wasn't alone. She was glad to have him by her side, especially at the moment that they found themselves standing before an open doorway leading into an observation room. Emily shakily pushed Patrick through the doorway, trying to keep strong. However, she felt her strength fading when she saw Ben through the glass window.

Pete watched as both Patrick and Emily froze in silence at the sight of their only son in that hospital bed. He didn't want to confront them with what the doctors had informed him that they must be confronted with.

"Patrick? Emily?" Pete asked, mustering his wits about him. "I know this isn't the right time for this, but the surgeons have informed me of a policy of theirs which says that you two, as his next of kin, need to be made aware of this option."

Emily looked up at Pete, who handed her a clipboard with some papers attached to it.

"Considering the amount of medication he's been given, the doctors feel it to be safer to leave this decision with the two of you." Pete said in a low tone, making minimal eye contact. "I'll leave you two alone to discuss it for a while." Pete said with a sigh, slowly exiting the room. After Pete let the door close behind him. Emily held the clipboard in her hands, trying to read the papers in the dim light.

"What is that, Em?" Patrick asked, knowing it must be serious if they were being given time to discuss it. For what seemed like several minutes, Emily remained in complete silence behind Patrick. Patrick was about to turn himself around in the chair when he felt her hand on his shoulder.

"Patrick" She whispered in a soft tone, as if she'd just had the wind knocked out of her.

"Emily, what does that thing say?" Patrick asked sternly. Using his hands, he turned the wheelchair around until he was facing Emily, only to find her standing in tears in front of him. Without saying a word, Emily flipped the clipboard around and handed it to Patrick. He had held it in his hand for barely three seconds before he froze in his thoughts. "It's a DNR." Patrick stuttered in shock. "They want us to sign it?"

Emily nodded, her arms crossed and one hand clenched into a fist and held to her mouth. "It says that considering the nature of this operation, we need to address the risks."

"Risks?" Patrick asked. "Aren't they trying to save his life?"

"Patrick, they're just trying to help." Emily said calmly, slightly trembling with her eyes closed.

"They call this helping?" Patrick cussed, turning back towards the window and seeing his son again. As he and Emily looked on, they saw Ben was still fast asleep, Abigail asleep by his side and Riley slouched over the edge of the bed, also asleep. As Patrick looked at him, he couldn't imagine what must have been going through his head over the past two weeks. As much as he didn't want to stray into those thoughts, he found that he couldn't help it.

"He wouldn't give up, Patrick." Emily said in a low tone. "He's seemed so calm and collected, I've never known that kind of faith." She said, shaking her head slightly as she finished talking.

"He's like this because of me." Patrick sighed, gently let his head hang down as he quickly said a silent prayer for his son. "I never listened to his words on what he was feeling while he was growing up. After we separated it was like a piece of him disappeared, and I didn't see it again for a long time. He must have just forced himself to learn to tolerate his pain, never let anybody see his suffering."

Emily stood in silence, thinking back to Ben's problems in school, with other children, and in so many other areas. She thought of how when he was a teenager, after the divorce, he never cried or complained about anything like he had before she and Patrick split up. She'd always thought it was because he was growing up, but now her connected memories began to tell her otherwise.

"Patrick, don't blame yourself." Emily said, again resting her hand on his shoulder. "True the two of you had some bad moments just like every other father and son have, but Ben never resented you for what happened between us."

"I resented it." Patrick said softly, looking back up at her. "That I let you down, and that I couldn't give him the stable family relationship he needed, or that Riley needed for that matter."

Emily looked up and stared out the window, her eyes falling on her second son. "You did good with him, Patrick. With both of them."

Patrick lifted his head again to see his son once more. Before long, his attention shifted to the still figure at Ben's bedside.

"He'd never be the same again, Patrick." Emily said, looking at Riley and thinking of what he'd be like. "They're two of a kind."

Patrick cracked a smile at her remark. It still stunned him how even as _mostly_ mature, grown adults, they were still like two teenage brothers.

"And Abigail….." Patrick said, looking at the other still figure lying next to Ben. "She'd be so heartbroken."

"Oh, I know." Emily said with a nod, remembering how strong and how brave and how terrified she had been through this whole ordeal.

"He held on for her, Em." Patrick said in a low tone. "She saved his life."

Nodding, Emily looked and saw how Abigail had her hand on her side while she was sleeping, Ben had his hand clasped over hers while she slept, holding her as tightly as he could.

"We're not signing it." Emily said, taking a moment to tear up the document before them. Patrick looked at her in silence.

"We missed so much, Patrick." Emily said, kneeling by his side amongst the shreds of papers, in order to look at him eye to eye. "Birthdays, Holidays, things that matter most in life. They shouldn't miss out on that too."

Tears in his eyes, Patrick quickly wrapped his arms around his wife, holding her quietly in the dim light of the room.

"Don't worry, Em." Patrick said softly, his eyes looking over her shoulder at their son. "If anyone can make it through this, it's him."

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon:

Chapter 35: For Sophie


	35. For Sophie

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 35: For Sophie

As the warm, sunny afternoon began to give way to the early evening hours, the surgical team at Flagstaff Medical was preparing for the double surgery on Ben Gates, consisting of treatment and preliminary repair to an imminent traumatic aortic rupture and a total of four follow-up examinations of the entry and exit wounds from the two gunshot wounds to his lung. The team of surgeons, consisting of some of the top surgeons in the State of Arizona, were among the few people outside the FBI who had been informed of the two massive discoveries in the Grand Canyon which almost cost Gates his life. They did their best to explain to Pete Sadusky the risks involved in the next surgery, which if successful would result in the two internal injuries being treated and stabilized to the point whereas he could start the bumpy road to recovery. Dr. William Adamson, who had treated Riley's injuries, was one of the surgeons who would be assisting in the surgery, and it was he himself who had explained to Pete the multitude of complications which could arise from either one of the procedures they were about to carry out, a majority of which could kill him in a matter of seconds. It was a difficult task that they were asked to carry out, but none of them objected to the surgery which they would not normally conduct. They knew that opting not to do the surgery based on the risks would be considered a death sentence, as if to be the final step of the vicious attempt on behalf of Ian Howe to kill him. Ignoring much of the safety protocols taught to them about these kinds of cases, the surgeons eagerly prepared for the operation.

Within two hours of the scheduled time of the operation, both Riley and Abigail were still visiting with Ben, Pete watching through the window in the adjacent observation room. The three of them were all awake now, quietly chatting amongst themselves. Abigail sat upright on the bed at Ben's side, while Riley was still on the stool on the opposite side. Abigail had just told them of how she had spoken to Tyler earlier. He had volunteered with Sadusky to return to the Grand Canyon and help look after things at the excavation site of the Lost City. Pete had just told them a few moments earlier that he and several others were guarding the treasure room, clarifying that nobody other than Armando and the girls had been inside the room, as the three of them had specifically stated that they wanted to wait until they all could observe the treasure's contents being examined and cataloged. Following that matter, Abigail also explained the situation surrounding Armando and the girls.

"I was just as shocked about it as you are, Riley." Abigail said in response to her friend's startled response to learning that they had attempted to contact their deserter father.

"I remember Joe Salinas didn't speak of him too fondly, not that I blame him." Riley said. "He said that Manuel had not even attempted to contact Armando or Anita in over eight years, and Joe even wondered if he knew Josie even existed."

Ben nodded, taking deep breaths as he processed the information he'd just been told. "They have no other living relatives?"

Abigail shook her head. "None at all."

"Imagine that." Riley sighed, glancing at Ben and Abigail. "It's a terrible thing."

Through the glass window opposite to his bed, Ben could make out Pete's silhouette moving towards a ray of light which appeared in the dark observation room as someone opened the door to the hallway from the outside, entering the room. He saw Pete stand at the doorway in conversation with the unknown person, and then saw Pete's face appear closer to the window, his focus seemed to be aimed in Riley's direction. In silence, Ben watched as Pete slowly walked across the observation room towards the door leading into Ben's room. Riley and Abigail looked back when they heard the door knob jiggle, and saw the door open.

"Hey, everybody." Pete said in a dull tone, letting the door close behind him.

"Hey, Pete." Riley said, his elbows on the bed with his chin resting in his hands.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Abigail asked, noticing Pete's tainted expression.

"Yeah, something is wrong." He said, Ben gulping at the sight of the sheet of paper in Pete's hand. If it was bad news about him, or about Ian, he worried about Abigail and Riley. As he looked at Pete, he wondered if this would ever end. "Don't worry, it's not about your condition, Ben."

Ben breathed a small sigh of relief, but still knew something had to be wrong if Pete was approaching them with the news.

"I've just been informed of the whereabouts of Manuel Avero." Pete said in the same shallow tone, referring to the father of the Salinas children.

Abigail's throat tightened as she looked at Pete nervously. "Has he been contacted?"

Pete shook his head slowly, glancing at the floor. "I'm afraid that Mr. Avero has passed away."

Abigail gasped, holding her hand to her mouth slowly. "Oh no."

"What?" Riley asked in confusion. Ben stared at Pete with the same puzzled look, telling Pete what he needed to hear.

"Riley, I think you might have known him for a short period of time." Pete said, getting another puzzled look from Riley. "Riley, can you tell me what the dates were that you were employed at Cantor Fitzgerald?"

"Um," Riley said in a hesitant tone, usually preferring not to think of the time he was employed at the World Trade Center in New York. "From November of 2000 to July of 2001. Why?"

Pete said nothing, simply handing the sheet of paper he had to Riley. He gulped nervously at the sound of Pete's tones soon as he read what was in front of him, his face went pail, his mouth numbly hanging open.

"Riley, what's wrong?" Abigail asked.

"_Oh, no."_ Ben groaned, holding his hand to his eyes. He painfully came to realize that it had been just over eight years since the Salinas children had seen their father, but only seven and one-half years since that awful September morning. He looked back at Abigail, who came to have the same blank expression on her face when she read the file on Manuel Avero, and how he had died at the World Trade Center that morning.

"According to the Maintenance company he worked for, he'd been assigned to the spaces occupied by Cantor Fitzgerald at that time, and he was at work that morning."

Riley stared at the photo of the middle aged man attached to the piece of paper with a paper clip, trying to remember his face from the hundreds and hundreds that he had seen there. He hated recollecting on the faces in that manner, as he always tried to remember those lost that day with remorse. "How could they not have known for all this time?"

"According to what we've uncovered, Rosa Salinas was informed of her ex-husband's loss." Pete sighed. "For some reason, she must not have told anybody."

"Joe must not have even known about it." Abigail said, recollecting how he had never mentioned the terrorist attacks, or if he even knew whatever became of Manuel after the separation. Scratching her head, she just couldn't figure out why this woman would not tell her own children that they had lost their father. However, it didn't take long for her to realize the answer.

"Wait, didn't the kids tell us that their mom started getting really sick just before he left?" Abigail asked, thinking of what she knew of Huntington's Disease and the affect that it had on people. "If that was the case, than she might not have been able to process that information in a way that she could understand it herself."

The room fell into silence, as the truth had been exposed of what would become of the three kids who'd just helped make such a large discovery. There was nowhere else for them to go. Ben watched as Riley stared blankly into the solid gray wall beside them, while Abigail had her arms crossed, gently and nervously nibbling on a fingernail. In the pit of his stomach, Ben felt that churning, nagging feeling he got every time something like this happened to someone he knew; the feeling of being completely useless to someone in need, a feeling which he absolutely could not tolerate.

"Pete?"

"Yeah, Ben?" Pete responded.

"What will become of them now?" Ben asked.

"We'll probably end up contacting social services." Pete said. Out of the corner of his eye, Ben saw Riley gently close his eyes for a brief second, his throat going rigid and tense.

"Could you possibly hold off on doing that for a while?" Ben asked, his voice hoarse as he coughed a bit from having the chest tube inserted into his side. "Perhaps until they can show everybody the treasure?"

"Did you have another arrangement in mind?" Pete asked. Ben glanced at Abigail, and then at Riley, gaining attention from both of them.

"We can look after them for a little while." Abigail said, looking at Pete. "Just so they can stay together a little bit longer."

"Yeah." Riley added, nodding in agreement.

"Wait a second." Ben said softly, feeling his energy fading again as his breathing intensified. His voice was now being interrupted as he tried to stay awake. "There's something else… we can do for them."

"What?" Abigail asked.

"Riley, …do you still have those… two-way communicators?" Ben asked in a dull yet eager tone.

"The ones from-_um, you know_?" Riley asked cautiously with Pete right behind him, thinking of the earpiece communicators they used when hacking into Buckingham Palace. "Yeah, I've got them."

"And your Laptop?"

"Of course." Riley said with a slight scoff at the thought of being without his computer.

"Ben, what are you up to?" Abigail asked in both a curious and stern tone with regards to his condition. Looking at Abigail and Riley, Ben took a deep breath and collected his thoughts on a grand plan surrounding the key aspect of finding the treasure and the lost city.

"We need… to tell her story." Ben said with a deep sigh. "All three of us,… together."

"Whose story?" Riley asked.

"Riley!" Ben cussed in irritation. "Sophie's story!"

"Ben!" Abigail scolded. "Calm down."

"Alright, alright." Ben said. "If we use those communicators,… we can collaborate …over what we have of her story. Abigail, ….you can access the scans of the …diary pages we made, right?"

"Yeah." Abigail said with a nod. "I just need to get a hold of another laptop with internet access." She said, nodding eagerly as she processed Ben's idea in her mind.

"And Riley, being the professional writer among us, can you process it?"

"Of course, Ben." Riley answered in the same tone.

"Hold on a second." Pete said, raising his hands to signal a halt to the torrent of plans emerging from the three minds before him. "I'm not sure if it would be possible to use transmitters like that in an operating room."

"It's alright." Riley said. "The ones I have were designed so that they do not interfere with other types of radio waves and frequencies."

"Look, Pete." Ben said. "I've got to stay awake during this procedure, and this is the best way to keep me alert."

"I'm just not sure if this is feasible." Pete said, gently shaking his head.

"Pete."

"There's a lot going on in this procedure and we can't have any screw-ups or distractions,"

"Pete."

"And they've got to have rules against this-"

"Pete." Ben said in a low, loud tone, in an attempt to be heard to his fullest capability. "I.…could.…die…."

A hush of silence fell in the enclosed room, Abigail and Riley both drawing pale faces in Ben's direction while Pete slipped into a state of silence, the words of reason sucked right out of him. Riley gulped that tingling feeling of nervousness in his throat once again, while Abigail was fighting off the urge to burst into tears when they were reminded of how Ben seemed to be more aware of the reality of the situation than anyone else. Ben paused in silence for a few moments, looking at Riley and Abigail with apologetic expressions before turning back to Pete.

"Those kids…have lost everything,… Pete." Ben said, his eyes watering ever so slightly. "This is something… that we can give back… to them,… and to her." He said between his heavy breaths, referring to the memory of a girl who had been long gone for over 140 years, and Pete was taken back by how even within inches of death, Ben was still thinking of this girl's memory, and these kids over himself. "Please, …I've at least got to do this for them...._I have to._"

Pete sighed, glancing at Abigail. She seemed to be staring off into space in Ben's direction, his eyes on her as well. Pete then looked to Riley, who was eagerly looking at Pete, a silent plea on his face to fulfill what could very well be his best friend's last wish.

"Please, Pete." Ben pleaded under his breath. _"Please."_

After a brief pause in silence, Pete looked up at his friend and tried his best to speak with the uttermost sincerity. "I'll do what I can to make this work."

Resting his head back, Ben gently closed his eyes as he tried to reserve his strength. At that moment, he'd never felt a stronger hatred towards Ian Howe, not ever.

* * *

5:47 P.M.

That's what made Abigail's heart pound in her chest faster and harder as she quickly paced along the countertops and closed doors of the hospital. The ticking of her watch seemed to be in harmony with her heartbeat as she asked anyone within ear's reach of her voice, pleading for help.

"Do you know where I can find a laptop?"

"Could you tell me if there's a laptop with wireless I could use anywhere?"

"Please, I need to find a computer." She cried softly as she asked around, every person she passed simply shook their head or muttered the negatory response, leaving her in a maelstrom of her own thoughts and fears. When it seemed as if the doctors and nurses working around her seemed to disappear from her view, her eyes darted around and she saw a private restroom nearby. Without a moment's haste, she quickly staggered to the door and swung it open. She closed it behind her, her hand clumsily reaching for the light switch as she locked the door behind her. As soon as she flipped the switch, the fluorescent lights flickering on in the ceiling, Abigail felt as if the walls had suddenly collapsed down onto her. She fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably as she crawled across the cold floor towards the toilet. Her entire body quivering, she emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet just in time. After she finished, she crawled her way to the sink, cupping water from the faucet in her hands to rinse her mouth. After switching off the water, she numbly collapsed onto the floor, leaning up against the wall. Breathing heavily, she closed her eyes and tilted her head back until it rested against the wall. This didn't seem real to her, what was happening around her. She thought that when she opened her eyes, she'd be back home in Virginia, at the Carroll estate, perhaps in the kitchen or her bathroom. She could almost hear the wind whistling through the oak trees, the trickling of the waters of the Potomac River, she could even almost smell the result of Riley's efforts to make toast, which he could never do without burning it. Above anything else, she could hear Ben arguing aloud with a historical theory he was reading about. She fondly remembered how he would pace around the room whilst she sat in one of the armchairs in the library, her nose in a book in an effort to either help him argue for his point or argue against it altogether. She smiled as she thought of him, a smile which quickly but not totally faded when she returned to reality. She slowly opened her eyes, the bright lights nearly blinding her for a moment or two. As she glanced around at her surroundings, she suddenly felt in her jacket pocket, to her surprise, was the ring box. Although she had wanted to wait for him, she knew that it was the only thing which could calm her nerves. She gently reached into her pocket and clasped her fingers around the box, shuddering slightly as she felt tiny bits of what she knew was the dried remnants of Riley's blood from that terrible night almost two weeks earlier. As she held the box in her hands, she held her breath as she cracked the lid open to expose its contents.

Her heart stopped as she came in sight of the ring, glinting in the fluorescent light. She gently pulled it from the box and laid the box on the floor in front of her. She admired the stone, the bands, even the shape; it was almost as if the ring had been designed around her entire hand. She didn't dare put it on her finger, though. As she held it in her hand, she then came to notice the scratches on the inside of the ring. Holding it up to the light, she felt her fears and doubts suddenly melt away when she read it. In her native German, was the inscription of her favorite quote from Beethoven.

'_Ever Thine, Ever Mine, Ever Ours.'_

Abigail released a deep, heavy sigh, wiping the tears from her eyes while clenching the ring in her fist. Once her blurred vision cleared, she took the ring in her fingers and gently placed it back in the box, thereafter returning the box to her pocket. Slowly but surely, she felt her faith restored and her nerves calmed. She then once again thought of the source of her anxiety, which was the thought of his loss, the reality of never seeing him again. She'd faced it twice already in just the past two and one-half days, but when she thought of those times, she soon came to realize the deeper truth of why Ben was so passionate about history in the first place. The most important thing she had learned from this experience, resonating in her mind even stronger than before, is that the debt that all men pay can be due at any time, in more ways than one. Ben had every good reason to do what he did, although his means of doing so were a bit flawed and careless at times. Once again, she looked upon the fact that told her she could live with it; it was who he was. She also knew that although she didn't like to admit it openly, she was very much like him in a few ways. She cracked a faint smile, knowing what to do now. She rose to her feet, wiping her eyes once more before opening the door.

"Dr. Chase!" A woman's voice called out. As Abigail stepped into the hallway, she looked and saw a red-headed woman briskly walking towards her. "I've been looking for you."

Seeing she was a doctor, she felt her nerves tingle. Looking at a clock nearby, she realized it was already 5:56. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." The woman said, the sound of a British accent lining her voice. "I'm Dr. Sanders, I'll be assisting in Mr. Gates' surgery."

Abigail said nothing, only cracking a smile and shaking the woman's hand politely. "Alright, was there something else you needed to talk to me about?"

"Oh, yes!" Dr. Sanders said, holding out a rectangular black computer bag in front of her. "Agent Sadusky said you were looking for a laptop with wireless?"

Drawing in a deep breath, Abigail nodded eagerly and took the case in her hands.

"You can use mine." Dr Sanders said with a faint smile. "Anything we can do to help after what all of you have been through, we shall."

"All that I ask is you do your best for him." Abigail said.

Dr. Sanders nodded. "If you want to see him before we begin, you must hurry!"

* * *

Riley had his earpieces which he'd tested and set to the proper frequencies in his hands as he entered Ben's room. He felt his nerves doing backflips in the pit of his stomach when he saw the two doctors in there speaking to him, with Sadusky standing behind them. As he approached, he tried his hardest not to make a sound, both in order to not disturb them and so he could listen in on their conversation. He hoped in hearing some positive words from the doctors, which he hoped would in turn settle the nerves which were making him sick to his stomach. He could hear Ben's voice as well, and it was even hoarser than before. Riley looked and saw one of the doctors looking into each of Ben's eyes with a pen light, while the other was looking at the heart monitor next to Ben's bed.

"Alright." The doctor with the pen light said as she put away her pen light. "Mr. Gates, it appears that the laceration to your aorta is slowly beginning to bleed around your heart."

Ben nodded silently, blinking as he tried to stay awake.

"We will be performing another transfusion before the surgery and we'll be giving you something to help you relax, but you must remember that it is important by all means that you remain as calm as possible."

Ben nodded again, glancing at Riley. "Hey, bud." He said groggily. Riley cracked a smile and waved his hand.

"We'll be back in a few minutes to prepare you for surgery." The doctor said as she and the other doctor exited the room. As the room fell into a state of silence, Ben and Riley found themselves staring at one another. They were only a few moments away from it.

"Well, Ben-"

"Do you have the communicators?" Ben asked, cutting him off. Saying nothing about the interruption, Riley calmly and quietly scuffled to Ben's side, gently placing one of the communicators in his right ear and switching it on. He then proceeded to place one in his own ear, also switching it on.

"Testing, one, two three." Riley said over the communicators. "Testing."

"Roger." Ben said over the communicators in response.

Taking a deep breath, he looked calmly at Riley. Seeing past the solemn look on Riley's face, he could tell Riley was worse off than the first time he'd watched _Jaws_, and how long it was after that before he could get his friend to even go swimming again. In his memories, he could still hear Riley screaming in his sleep for at least a year following that. His memories drifted back to one night when they were living in Germantown, when the two of them learned the true meaning of friendship. Ben remembered it very clearly; November 18, 1987, he was almost twenty-four, and Riley was seventeen. After Riley had graduated a year early and joined Ben at Germantown, the two of them fell on hard financial times. After being kicked out of three apartments, they finally moved into a trailer in a mobile home park in a neighboring town almost ninety minutes from campus. Thinking back, Ben remembered the one bedroom trailer like being at summercamp, how he and Riley subsequently traded the top and bottom bunks. That night, Riley had the bottom bunk and when he screamed in his sleep, Ben was so startled that he slammed his head into the ceiling, making a grapefruit-sized indent in the ceiling tiles. He looked at Riley, who was sheet white with terror. They learned that night that autumn storms in the Pennsylvania countryside and watching scary movies didn't mix all too well, as they soon found themselves without electricity. Ben remembered looking at his watch and seeing it was already half-past midnight, but came up with a better idea than sitting shivering in the cold all night listening to Riley whimper from at least half a dozen phobias and scaring himself half to death. Ben remembered the words he said to Riley which seemed to calm his friend's nerves more than anything. _"Feel like heading home?"_ He remembered Riley's thankful smile and the teenager springing out of bed and rolling up a few handfuls of clothing and stuffing them into a bag. Ben simply reached for an emergency hundred-dollar bill he kept hidden in his glasses case, threw on a pair of jeans, gathered some things together and grabbed his keys. In the blowing rain, Ben and Riley piled into Ben's old jeep and set off on the road in the middle of the night. He could hear the wind whistling through the crack in his window that wouldn't roll up all the way, and the clunking noise the heater in his jeep made whenever the heater was turned on full blast. Ben remembered how he switched on the radio, and the first thing they heard was that tornadoes had been spotted in the lands west of Philadelphia, which didn't help settle Riley's nerves one bit. Instead, Ben was convinced that Riley had actually started foaming at the mouth for just a split second before Ben switched the station to a song which would resonate in their memories for years to come. Steppenwolf's _Magic Carpet ride _came on to one of the stations he passed, and within less than a minute both he and Riley were singing along. Outside Wilmington they stopped for gas at a little gas station/diner near the interstate. After catching a bite to eat, the two of them were just about to head out when something caught Ben's eye; Steppenwolf's greatest hits on cassette was for sale amongst an assorted collection of music. He bought a couple of cassettes and before they knew it, the storm had cleared, giving way to a clear night sky. Continuing on towards Washington DC, Ben and Riley had such a good time with it that Ben suddenly turned off the interstate. They headed west through Lancaster County, where they got lost for over an hour in the Amish countryside. The entire time, the two were locked in either conversation or debate over the history of the Amish, which they'd both studied in school. Once they reached the city of Lancaster, they made their way further west until they reached Gettysburg. Although Ben had seen the site of the historic battle over a dozen times, Riley's first time there was that night. By that time, his fears of the storm and the sharks were a distant memory. From there, they headed south into Maryland, turning towards Washington DC at Leesburg. The entire time the two friends talked about every historical aspect of what could be seen through Ben's windshield. By the time they finally reached the neighborhood where Ben grew up, the sun was rising over the nation's capital. The trip which normally took roughly two hours ended up taking six and one-half hours and three tanks of gasoline. Waking up early to brew his morning coffee, Patrick was startled beyond all reason to find his two boys passed out on the pull-out in the front room. Ever since that night, Ben and Riley made a tradition of making midnight road trips, every time listening to a specific collection of music that started with that Steppenwolf cassette.

Slowly, Reality took hold of Ben's vision once again, Riley's mullet of the late eighties disappearing to his short haircut of the present.

"Ben?" Riley asked in a puzzled tone. "What's up?"

"Just remembering something." Ben muttered. Riley gave a gently nod in understanding.

"Steppenwolf?"

"Steppenwolf."

"Ah, of course." Riley said, thinking of that night on the road. "The cure to my hydrophobia."

"What?" Abigail asked from behind Riley as she quickly entered the room. "When did you have rabies?"

"I didn't have rabies." Riley said, glaring at her. "It's a long story."

"Oh, well I was about to say _'that definitely explains a lot_" Abigail said jokingly, receiving a grimacing look from Riley in return.

Pete chuckled softly at the remark. "Alright, I'll see you two in a few minutes." He said as he slowly turned and exited the room, having already had a few words with Ben.

"You'll have to tell her later." Ben said with a small groan. Almost immediately afterwards, two nurses appeared in the doorway.

"It's time."

Ben took a deep breath and nodded, Riley and Abigail each stepping to one side of his bed. Before forgetting, Riley handed Abigail her earpiece, which she placed into her own ear and switched on.

"Well, I guess we're ready." Ben sighed, looking up at Riley and Abigail. Without saying a word, he groggily reached up and extended his arms. Almost in direct response, Abigail and Riley fell simultaneously into his arms.

"I'm counting on you two." Ben said in a shaky tone. "She deserves this."

Nodding, Abigail held Ben tightly as she could without hurting him, as did Riley. She kissed the side of his face, trying not to let him see the tears she fought desperately to hold back. After a few moments, they both slowly pulled away as the nurses prepared to move Ben's bed to the preparation area. Neither of them took their eyes off him as they stepped into the observation room, watching as another door opened up in the room and the nurses carefully detached several of the tubes and wires before finally pushing his bed out of the room. Abigail looked as Ben never took his eyes off of her. Over the communicator, she could still faintly hear his heavy breathing. She pressed her hand against the glass as she watched him disappear from view. Out in the hallway the nurses stopped briefly when Emily passed them, pushing Patrick in his wheelchair. Knowing it was time for them to begin, Emily just leaned over her son and kissed his forehead.

"I'll see you later." Emily whispered, blinking back tears. Patrick gently squeezed his son's hand, giving him an encouraging look.

"_Don't worry, Dad." _Ben whispered. _"It'll be alright."_

Patrick gently nodded as the nurses pushed him down the wide corridor, away from them. Looking beside her, Emily saw Abigail step to her side. In reaction, Emily gently took Abigail's hand and held it firmly. Opposite to Abigail, Riley also stood next to Emily, behind Patrick. Never taking his eyes off Ben, Riley put one hand on Patrick's shoulder, while wrapping the other arm around Emily's shoulders, resting his hand on Abigail's shoulder. The four of them stayed there and watched as the nurses disappeared with Ben through some swinging doors at the end of the hallway. It was a harsh wake-up call to all of them, because from there on out he was on his own. The next six hours would determine the difference if whether or not they would ever see him alive again.

"_I need to switch this off for a few moments." _A voice whispered over Riley and Abigail's communicators. _"I Love you guys."_

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon:

Chapter 36: Through the Ages

Author's Note: I got one fact mixed up from the movie that I just discovered. Ben actually attended Georgetown University, which is in Washington DC. However, for the sake of that story, I decided to keep it as is, so just ignore that little mistake.


	36. Into the Ages

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 36: Through the Ages

"Alright, Ben." Dr. Sanders said calmly to Ben as she stood by his side. "We've applied the drugs which will serve as a substitute to the anesthesia, and in a few moments you should lose all sensation from the collarbone down." She said, cracking a smile in an attempt to calm his nerves. Ben nodded in understanding while he continued to stare up into the ceiling and off into space. Underneath the operating table he was laying on, he'd felt a small prick of the needle going into his spine, in between his shoulder blades. Just as Dr. Sanders had told him, he felt his body slowly going numb from the neck down. It was a rather strange feeling, and an eerie one. It was very similar to what he had felt right after being shot, just before he died. Almost out of instinct, he waited for his vision to go blurry and his breathing to slow down, but both held firm as he realized the truth to his surroundings.

"Don't worry," One of the nurses said as she walked by. "It's supposed to feel strange."

Ben nodded again, still staring off into space. Now, the only sensation he could feel below his throat was his lungs expanding as he breathed, and that was hardly considered a feeling at all at that point. As he stared at the ceiling, he waited anxiously for them to let him turn his communicator back on. Just to hear her voice would calm his nerves so much, he was sure of it.

"Well, Ben, what do you say we get you back in touch with the others?" Dr. Sanders said, having heard what he and Riley and Abigail were about to attempt to do.

"Yes, please." Ben said in an eager yet groggy tone. She gently reached over and pressed the switch on his earpiece, a beep in his ear telling him it was on and functioning.

"Abigail? Riley? You guys there?" Ben asked eagerly.

"_I'm here, Ben." _Abigail's voice said over the communicator.

"_Me too, Ben." _Riley's voice added.

"Alright." Ben said with a small sigh of relief. Hearing their voices did help him to relax a little bit, which was a big plus considering what he was about to face. "Here's an idea of how we can start this. Let's create an outline of everything we need to include in this."

"_Yeah, that a good start, Ben." _Abigail said. _"I'm pulling up files with all the information and resources that we need and Riley will be doing the typing."_

"You up to make your fingers smoke, buddy?" Ben asked.

"_Lock and Load, Brother."_ Riley said in a low tone.

"Alright, People." One of the lead surgeons said, stepping to Ben's side all geared up for action. "We're coming to the time." Ben glanced around nervously as the surgeons all stepped into place as if part of a baseball team getting ready for a big game. "Are you with us, Ben?"

"Yeah. I'm here." Ben said as he glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Just try to relax, Ben." Dr. Sanders said in a calm tone. "Take deep breaths and stay awake and alert."

Ben nodded, staring at the clock. He noticed how all the doctors had their eyes on the clock as well, all waiting for the precise moment to begin the operation. He held his breath for a few moments just before they began working. The time was 18:30:04

* * *

18:37:39

"Well, Ben, where do you think we should start?" Abigail asked as she sipped on an iced mocha as she tried to stay focused. "I was thinking the best place would probably be with Merez and his men."

"_Yeah, that's a good idea." _Ben said between heavy breaths. Abigail could hear monitors beeping and surgeons talking in the background, but knew her mission was to keep Ben focused on Sophie's story.

"Alright, I'll see what information I can pull up on that part of the story."

"I'm one step ahead of you, Abs." Riley said. "I've already got a general layout of the story of how Merez and his men found the treasure, got it over to North America, and I'm right up to the point in the story in which that guy in the mountains gets his hands on the map and sets off for Wales."

"Wow, really?" Abigail asked with a raised eyebrow. "Are you getting all your facts straight?"

Riley said nothing, only looking up from his computer for a brief moment and giving her one of his John Wayne glares.

"Sorry." Abigail whispered. Riley concealed a heavy belch by clenching his teeth together as he finished his fourth can of Pepsi. For security reasons, the two of them had been given use of a conference room on the fourth floor to use for their studies. Patrick and Emily had taken Armando and the girls to a nearby hotel so they all could get some much needed sleep. One of the doctors had even given Patrick some prescribed sedatives for Emily, just in case. She remembered how worn out and worried Emily was when they left for the hotel, she looked as if she hadn't slept in months. Glancing out the window, Abigail looked out onto the desert. She saw before her eyes a golden sunset behind the city which began to glow in the evening shadows. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that same star appearing in the darkness. Deep in her mind, her thoughts resonated of Sophie, how maybe perhaps she had seen that same star many times.

"Ben, how are you doing?" Abigail asked, snapping herself out of her daze.

"_So far, so good." _Ben said, still taking heavy breaths which Riley and Abigail could both hear very clearly over their headsets. _"How far have you guys gotten?"_

"Right now, we're looking at putting together how the story came to be, how the treasure was found, how Merez and his men got it all to North America, and how Sophie came to be involved in this." Riley explained, typing furiously as he bounced back and forth between web browsers.

"Hey, you guys." Abigail said, looking at something on her computer. "I think I may have found some useful information on Merez and his men."

"Really?" Riley asked.

"According to what I just found, it has been told by people back in Spain that Merez's fleet simply vanished." Abigail said as she read information on Juanto Merez. "However, there's another website on here with history on the pirates of the Iberian Peninsula."

"_Bingo." _Ben sighed. _"What did you find?"_

"According to several historians, roughly around 1622 several ships went missing off the coast of Portugal." Abigail said. "Several people thought it to be very odd as no storms had raged the seas."

"I'm assuming one of them was Merez's ship?" Riley asked.

"Yep." Abigail responded. "But that's not the best part of what I have found."

"_Please, go on!" _Ben stammered eagerly.

"Apparently, four ships from a band of pirates went missing around the time that Merez and his men went missing." Abigail said as she read. "This says that this particular group of pirates raided dozens, perhaps hundreds of ships passing through the straits of Gibraltar and the Irish sea."

"_Wait a moment," _Ben said, interrupting Abigail. _"Four ships? I always thought it was only two that Merez and his men found."_

"It may have been more." Abigail responded. "This also tells us a great fact of the treasure."

"Yeah, that it may have been collected from almost every reign of power in Europe at that time, perhaps the whole Eastern Hemisphere." Riley added.

"I think you might be right, Riley." Abigail said. "That would explain the extreme measures Merez and his men took to protect the wealth from the King of Spain."

"_Just as the Freemasons had."_ Ben added. _"They felt it their duty to protect the treasure."_

Abigail nodded, still glancing out the window occasionally at the darkening sky. "We've got a lot of work to do, boys."

* * *

19:24:51

"He's still stable though, right?" Patrick asked in a worried tone, wincing as he gently rubbed the brace on his knee while looking at his watch.

"_Yes, he is, Patrick." _Abigail said over her cell phone. _"I just spoke with him and he says he's doing fine."_

"Alright." Patrick said with a deep sigh. "I still keep thinking that he may just be putting on a smile for everybody."

"_I'm thinking that too."_ Abigail said in a similar tone. _"But there's not much we can do at this point in time."_

"I know." Patrick said softly, his nerves tied and twisted into precarious knots. "Thanks for keeping me informed, though."

"_I'll keep in touch." _Abigail said, followed by the click of her hanging up the phone. Patrick breathed another deep sigh as he looked down at his phone for a few moments before setting it on the table next to the bed. Glancing around at his surroundings, he felt his stomach twisting and turning inside of him. He should be there for his son, be there by his side while he fights for his life. He just prayed having Abigail and Riley in at least direct contact would help him find the strength to endure what he was going through. As he kept praying silently in his mind again and again, he glanced to his left, to the other bed. Armando's calm face stared back at him as the boy slept, completely exhausted from the day's events. Two close family friends of theirs had arrived at the hospital earlier that day after hearing word that he and the girls were safe and sound. They had gone out to their house and retrieved a few of their things, a fresh change of clothes and some assorted belongings for each of them. They had also gone with Armando to the county coroner's office, to properly identify his Grandfather's body. In compliance with his will, Joe Salinas would be cremated, a decision which was hard for Armando to face. In addition, he'd been told of his father, and how he had been killed in the terrorist attacks of 2001. It was a harsh blow, as Armando had always thought so negatively of their father for abandoning them, something he would most likely regret for the rest of his life. He said to them after he was told of it that he would tell Anita and Josephine about their father's death.

Patrick concluded that Armando had not told them yet, as the two girls slept soundly next to him on the bed, curled up together under the sheets. Meanwhile, at his other side, Emily was sound asleep, much to his relief. Although he didn't want to admit it, he was surprised that she had not yet gone off the deep end during this whole ordeal. He gently rested his hand on her shoulder as he lie next to her in bed. He tried to rest, to conserve his strength as he knew the next few hours could change so much.

* * *

20:07:14

Ben stared blankly into the ceiling tiles of the operating room as he thought of the road which had led him to the treasure. He couldn't help but think of what was in that cave beneath the lost city. How did they get all of it down there? Did the Navajo help them? How did Merez and his men form an alliance with the native peoples of the desert? There was so much to consider when putting such a writing together as they were attempting to do. The first piece of information which was relevant to the study of the treasure, just like with the Templar Treasure, was how a few brave men took this treasure of gold, jewels and history in their hands and decided that it was too much for any one person to have. Ben thought of how long it must have taken those men to haul all that treasure clear across the North American continent, which would not have been an easy task at all in those days. The next piece of information involved the Navajo Indians, and how this alliance that they had formed with Merez and his men could very well have been the first contact between the Natives of the southwest and the Europeans.

"Riley? Abigail?" Ben asked hoarsely. "We need to remember to collaborate on how the Navajo became involved in all of this."

"_I was just thinking that, Ben." _Abigail said, still typing and browsing through web page after web page with furious speed. _"I haven't been able to find much online, so it looks like we'll need to contact some historians on this subject."_

"We'll have to wait on that." Ben said. "Until the situation with this whole thing is a bit safer." Ben knew that Ian had dragged God knows how many criminals and mercenaries into this treasure hunt, and they had been told by Pete to keep this hush-hush until they could finish their investigation.

"_Alright, so what is our overall master plan with this?" _Riley asked. _"Are we looking at a historical writing or a novel?"_

"I think doing a two-in-one would be appropriate, don't you, Abigail?" Ben asked.

"_I do agree." _Abigail said with a sigh. _"This story is just so rich with history, it will take us some time to untangle all the knots."_

"_Okay, how on earth do we cram all of this into one story?" _Riley asked in a puzzled tone. _"I'm getting a headache just thinking about trying to read it."_

"Hang in there, kiddo." Ben said with a sigh. "We can do it."

Still staring into the light, Ben concealed within his mind his true thoughts of the present situation. He tried to keep his eyes fixed on the ceiling tiles and one of the fluorescent light fixtures nearby, while trying his hardest to ignore the sight of what was being reflected off some of the equipment around him. At one glance, he caught a glimpse of what was going on above the plastic sheet which was draped over his chest, where two surgeons were making some repairs to the entry and exit wounds to his lung that two of the bullets had made. As he kept taking deep, steady breaths, Ben could feel the tubes from the ventilator running down his throat from his nose, which was where the tubes entered his body. He knew it wouldn't be long now before they started the operation on the damaged blood vessel to his heart. He felt the bandages that were wrapped around his forehead becoming damp with sweat. He tried to stay calm, but it was becoming harder and harder as the seconds ticked by. Ben gently closed his eyes, letting his surroundings disappear from view. In his mind, he found himself back in the Lost City, at the edge of that river. Before long, the beeping of the monitors and talking amongst the surgeons and nurses faded away into silence and all he could hear was the sound of running water and the sounds of the Grand Canyon echoing through the cavern. In his mind, he could visualize himself standing before the opening to a dark tunnel. At the end of that dark tunnel was the treasure he'd been forced to risk everything to find. He was so close to finally seeing it, finally finding it for her, that he just couldn't wait to see it. In his mind he could picture the looks on the faces of Armando, Anita, and Josephine, how they must have lit up like Times Square on New Year's Eve. He was sure Tyler would get a kick out of seeing a real treasure for the first time as well. He wanted to share that moment once again with those he loved. With Abigail. With Riley. With his parents.

"Ben?" A woman's voice asked, snapping him out of his gaze into space. When his vision cleared, he looked up and saw Dr. Sanders looking down at him. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Ben said groggily, blinking in the light.

"We have good news." She said with a weak smile. "Your lungs are healing nicely, so the first part is completed."

Ben cracked a weak smile, knowing the risky part would be coming next.

"Are you ready?" Dr. Sanders asked. His confidence restored, Ben gently nodded his head. As she stepped away from his side, Ben fixed his eyes again on the ceiling as the doctors announced they would be starting, listening to the clanging of medical instruments being handled and prepared.

"Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen." One of the doctors who was out of Ben's view announced. "We will now begin the procedure to repair a lesion to the aorta in order to prevent a traumatic aortic rupture."

Ben heard murmurs and whispers around him as they prepared for the next step. Collecting his thoughts in his mind, he placed all his focus on the treasure, on Sophie's story, on the swift striking of the keys on Riley's laptop, and Abigail's dull murmuring to herself as she read information off the internet. They seemed to calm him a little bit, and he felt an ease of relief as his fears diminished. He would need that faith if he wanted to pull through the next step on his way to the treasures he was seeking; one treasure in the middle of the Grand Canyon, and another in a nearby conference room. Even at that distance, he could still feel the warmth of her hand gently rested on the side of his face, and that gave him every reason in the world to keep fighting.

* * *

21:17:40

"Hang in there, Ben." Riley said softly over his communicator for the fifth time. "Hang in there."

"You holding up alright?" Abigail asked, listening to what was going on in the background. She had the volume on her earpiece turned up loud enough so that she could almost hear what the surgeons conducting the surgery were saying. However, she kept switching ears every ten minutes or so, worrying if the sound might make her ears bleed.

"_So far, so good."_ Ben said with a deep breath. Another sound Abigail was happy to hear was the sound of his deep breathing. _"How are you doing?"_

"We're doing great so far, Riley and I have a great outline laid out for the introduction to Sophie's story."

"_I meant how are you doing, Abigail." _Ben whispered. Abigail casually looked up at Riley without moving her head, and saw him looking at her with the same expression. Gently nodding his head, he removed his earpiece from his ear, giving them a moment of privacy.

"_I'm doing alright, Ben." _Abigail said calmly. _"Riley is doing fine too, he's working on a twelve-pack of Pepsi. I just talked to your dad, he's fine, as is your mom. We're all fine."_

She heard Ben exhale deeply in a certain tone of voice that told her he had more on his mind than he should have.

"Ben, you need to stay focused, do you understand me?" Abigail said in a calm yet stern tone. "Please, don't get yourself all twisted up in knots."

There was a brief pause, a void in silence filled with Ben's heavy, labored breaths.

"Ben, I want you to do something for me." Abigail said in her firm tone.

"_Yes?"_

"I want you to picture Sophie for me." Abigail said. "Picture what it would have been like for her and her family to hear about the treasure."

Taking another deep breath, Ben calmly wrapped his head around the visual image in his head of what Wales would have looked like in the middle of the nineteenth century. "Alright."

Closing his eyes, he visualized a small hamlet on the shores of Wales, along the Irish Sea. He could see in his mind images of the story he'd known so well. After setting in his mind the story of William, the California tradesman who had received the original map from the old man in the mountains, he pictured what life was like in Wales for the Hughes family. From the story, Ben could determine that the Hughes family were of the lower class, barely getting by amidst hard economic times in Britain. He could imagine the desperation in James' expression, in his eyes, the shear need of a father to fulfill his duties as a parent to provide for his children. Ben thought of the risk James took to pursue the treasure, but he then remembered that all forms of opportunities come as risks of varying degrees. That was a quality that Ben had come to admire in James, the ability to take action on behalf of those he loved. In his mind, Ben could also see Sophie and her sisters, and the excitement they could have held in the beginning of their adventure; the immigrant experience.

"_Did you get all that?" _Ben asked.

"Got it, Ben." Riley said as he typed away furiously at his friend's thoughts. On the screen of his laptop, the puzzle pieces to Sophie's story were slowly coming together. As he connected the facts and figures, he could see a great story forming before him.

"Keep going, Ben." Riley insisted. "We need to keep moving."

"Yeah." Abigail added.

"_Alright, alright." _Ben said as he yawned deeply, his eyes straining against the bright lights shining in his face. The next part of their journey took them to the high seas of the North Atlantic, a journey which in those days was done by the power of the wind, and could take several weeks to complete. He imagined Sophie and her sisters packing up their belongings into wooden chests and suitcases, tearfully saying goodbye to the only home they had ever known. He then pictured William leading James and the girls to a wharf on the coast, with a large clipper ship filled with immigrants waiting for them. He could almost see the glimmer of hope in their eyes; hope for a better tomorrow and a new life. For a brief second, Ben could almost feel the strong winds blowing against his face as he imagined the ship slicing through the choppy seas. He could see James and William talking about the map and examining it further. He saw James with a sample set of chemicals and a familiar looking diary he planned to give to one of his daughters, carefully and secretly planning out their journey into the west. Meanwhile, he saw the girls enjoying the adventure of the high seas. He saw Violet, ribbons in her hair, climbing up a few steps into the rigging and looking over the waves with some of the other children. He saw Nellie plopped down on the deck amidst a blanket spread on the floor, playing with her homemade dolls. Last but not least, he saw Sophie sitting atop a barrel against the wall of the deck house, a book in her hand. She looked just as he remembered she did from his vision. Deep in his mind, he was still pondering over whether or not he had just been dreaming, or if he had really spoken with her. His main piece of evidence to prove to himself that he had spoken with her was the fact that she knew precisely how many times Riley's heart had stopped after he was shot. Either way, he kept it in his mind as the truth, and as a secret. He scoffed gently at the thought of him trying to tell someone about what had happened to him, and then winding up in the psych ward for three days. That was, if he made it through this one final challenge.

"Ben? You still there?" Riley asked. "You still with us?"

"_It's alright, Riley." _Ben said groggily. _"I'm still here."_

* * *

22:31:04

Abigail stared blankly at the clock for what seemed like several minutes. She was speaking to Ben as the surgeons were placing a stint within his heart to keep the aorta from bursting, and they were only ninety minutes from completing the surgery. She'd already chewed clear through what was left of her fingernails while Riley finished typing his twenty-seventh consecutive page of data for Sophie's story. They had gotten through the story of how the treasure came to the new world, how Merez and his men allied with the Navajo tribes of the Grand Canyon and hid the treasure in a cavern deep inside the religious center, the lost city of Kokato. As for Sophie's story, they had reached the point up to where the story left off, which was the night that her father was killed by two stray bandits in the wilderness of the Colorado territory and Sophie disappeared into the west. In her mind, Abigail could see the look in Sophie's eyes as she watched her father die; shear terror, panic, rage, and hatred, all combined could drive anyone insane. Abigail shook her head in denial as the thought of someone going through something like that was too hard for her to imagine, almost to the point that she didn't hear the knocking on the door.

"Who is it?" Riley called.

"It's me, you guys." Pete responded as he cracked the door open slowly and stepped into the room. The darkness of the hallway contrasted with the brightness of the conference Riley and Abigail were using briefly blinded him. He shook his head to clear his vision until finally he stood before Riley and Abigail with a strange expression on his face.

"Pete?" Riley asked curiously. "What's up?"

Pete breathed a deep sigh as he prepared himself to tell them the news he carried. Abigail looked up from her computer and saw the look on his face, and almost instantly she felt a chilling feeling form in the pit of her stomach. "What is it, Pete?" Abigail asked, taking off her earpiece and turning it off so Ben couldn't hear what they were saying. "Is it Ben?"

"No." Pete said with another deep sigh. "Its Ian."

Abigail glanced at Riley, who in turn glanced back at her. Slowly rising from her chair, she looked at him with a stern expression on her face. "What is it, Pete?"

"He's escaped again, Abigail." Pete sighed. "He had some more men jump the transport which was taking him to the prison, we found both the guards with bullet holes in their skulls."

Abigail suddenly became very white, the chilling feeling in the pit of her stomach spreading throughout her entire body. _"What?"_

"He's escaped to Mexico." Pete said, unfolding a piece of paper in his hands. "He left this for you, Abigail."

Crossing the room slowly and nearly stumbling across the chairs in her path, she took the small piece of paper in her hands and read the short message.

"_I will be back, Dr. Chase"_

Letting the note fall to the floor, Abigail trembled gently with anger. In her mind, she was confronted with all that Ian had done to them, all the pain that he'd caused, she blindly reached to one of the chairs and ripped the cushion from the backrest. Holding it to her face, she screeched into the pillow as loud as she could for about ten seconds.

"Ian got away?" Riley snapped. Her eyes widening, Abigail turned in Riley's direction in shock after he revealed what had happened within listening range of a person who was undergoing open heart surgery.

"RILEY!" Abigail screeched.

"What?" Riley asked in shock, taking two seconds to realize he was still wearing his earpiece. It didn't take long before Riley could hear a commotion coming from the other end of the transmitters.

"Ben, are you there?" Riley asked. "Ben!"

Ben didn't respond. All Riley could hear was the doctors yelling.

"_He's Crashing!"_

"_Get out of the way, charging-"_

"_Get that thing out of his ear!"_

This was all surrounded by a high pitched tone coming from what sounded like a heart monitor. It was the last thing that Riley heard before he lost the signal.

To Be Continued…..

Coming Soon:

Chapter 37: Requiem


	37. Requiem

National Treasure

Into the West

Chapter 37: Requiem

"Abigail?" Riley said softly as he shook her shoulder. "Abigail!"

"_Hmm-wha?"_ Abigail responded in a dazed state as she woke from her sleep. It was 2:36 AM and the hospital was almost empty of nurses and patients; everybody had either gone home for the night or had retired to bed. The last thing she remembered was that they had come so close to calling his time of death before they finally got the stint into the blood vessel and regulated his heartbeat, not before he'd lost one fifth of his total blood supply. She heard that he had nearly drowned in his own blood, which nearly sent her over the edge. She'd fallen asleep in Riley's arms in the waiting room after he tried to both calm her down and calm herself down. Armando and the girls had been sent to bed, they hadn't heard of the incident, nor had Patrick or Emily. They had already been tormented throughout this ordeal enough, telling them at that point would have been too much.

"Riley?" Abigail responded softly as she blinked to clear her vision. She awoke to him holding her, her head resting on his shoulder. They were in the waiting room, and a familiar looking doctor was standing before them.

"Oh, God, Ben!" Abigail hissed as she pushed the blanket off of herself. "What happened?"

"He had a close call." Dr. Adamson said with a deep sigh. "Hearing the news about Mr. Howe caused his blood pressure to sky rocket so high that the tear in his aorta burst. We double patched it and stitched it up so the aorta wall should heal quite nicely once he's had some rest. The operation was a close call, but a success nevertheless."

"Y-You mean he survived?" Abigail stammered.

Dr. Adamson nodded. "He's quite the fighter, Dr. Chase."

Without saying a word, She turned to Riley, who was just as taken back and misty-eyed as she was. Without saying a word, she fell into his arms and held him tightly, as did he.

"He's coming home, Riley!" Abigail said as tears rolled down her cheeks. "He's coming home!" She repeated it as Riley hugged her tightly. They were both in shock, as if they were dreaming or something. Ben had pulled through in the end, and the fight was over. For now, anyway.

As the day wore on, the sun rose over the clear Arizona sky on one of the most beautiful days that any of them had seen in a long time. Not a single cloud could be seen in the sky for miles around Flagstaff, nor could any cloud bring down the spirits of the treasure hunters. Patrick and Emily arrived to hear the good news with rejoicing, as did Armando and the girls. Pete Sadusky and his agents were also glad to hear that Ben Gates had once again beaten the odds by the skin of his teeth. Although he was still listed as being in critical condition roughly twelve hours after the surgery, the doctors reported signs that the gunshot wounds would heal up quite nicely, as would the rest of his injuries. It wasn't until later that afternoon that he was moved into a private room in the patient wing, and his condition was upgrated from critical to fair rather rapidly. At the same time, Abigail, Riley, Patrick and Emily all agreed that as soon as he was rested up enough for it, they would call in the reporters who they had been fending off for two days now.

After she was informed of the conditions of the site at Kokato in the Grand Canyon, Abigail retreated into Ben's hospital room. As soon as she stepped in the door, she felt a warm feeling of relief wash over, as even through all the gauze patches and bandages, she was able to recognize her best friend, the man she loved. She sat quietly for a few hours, flipping through magazines and listening to the rhythym of the heart monitor. Every now and then she would feel for the ring box in her pocket and make sure it was still there. Every time she did that, she checked herself on how to confront him when he woke up, as not to overwhelm him. She stared at his face a couple of times, for a few moments at a time, and thought of how tired he must be. Normally he would snore like a woodchipper, even at the brink of total exhaustion. However, now he slept silently, barely moving. When he had first come out of surgery he was breathing on a ventilator, but now he was breathing on his own. It was a sign to her that he was on his way back. Finally, at 4:34 PM, her heart leapt into her throat when she saw his eyelids twitch. She took a deep breath and moved to his side, watching his eyes closely as they slowly cracked open.

"_Abigail.."_ He breathed in an exhausted tone.

"Ben." Abigail said softly. "Hey, baby."

Ben blinked a few times to clear his vision, and within a few moments he could clearly see her face. He smiled at the sight of how her brown hair dye was starting to wash out, and strands of her natural blonde hair color were starting to show.

"You were amazing in there, Ben." Abigail said softly, stroking the side of his face with her hand. "You passed with flying colors."

Gently lifting up his arm, he pulled his hand up on top of him and could feel the staples in his chest. Taking a deep breath, the reality of the situation sank in for him as well. Cracking a smile, he reached out for her hand, which she took gladly. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"How's Riley?" Ben asked, blinking again. "Did he cause any trouble."

"The exact opposite, Ben." Abigail answered. "He was a godsend. I probably would have gone insane if he hadn't been there with me."

"What about my parents, and the kids?" Ben asked, trying to sit up.

"They're all fine, Ben." Abigail responded in a sterner tone, gently pushing him back. "And the only way for things to stay that way is for you to rest."

Staring at her for a few moments, Ben released a deep sigh and shook his head. "You're a warrior, Abigail Chase."

Abigail smiled at the remark, recognizing his wise-ass sense of humor.

Taking her hand tight in his, he looked up at her. "Where's Riley?"

"He's downstairs."

"Could you get him for me?" Ben asked. "He's got something I need."

Fidgeting, Abigail reached into her pocket and pulled out the small velvet box. "Are you referring to this?"

Ben paused for a moment, trying to search through his head for the right words to say. After a while, he just stopped and looked up at her, waiting for her to respond.

"I haven't looked at it, Ben." Abigail said, recognizing his 'deer caught in the headlights' expression. "I waited for you."

Not saying anything else, she simply rested the box in his open hand.

"This really wasn't the way I wanted to do this, but I guess it doesn't matter anymore." Ben said in a clear voice, never looking away from her. "You were always there, Abigail."

Abigail said nothing, and just listened.

"You always were the one who helped me keep pushing on, kept me going." Ben said, still not taking his eyes off of her. In his eyes, she could still see the smallest trace of that blank expression of horror that he probably still felt responsible for. "You kept me alive out there."

Taking a deep breath, Abigail fought back her tears as hard as she could.

"You're the girl of my dreams, Abigail, and I'm asking you now," Ben said with a brief pause as he gently and slowly opened the box with one hand, revealing its contents to her.

"Will you marry me?"

* * *

TREASURE HUNTER FOUND ALIVE, TWO MASSIVE TREASURES DISCOVERED IN ARIZONA DESERT

_FLAGSTAFF, AZ – A number of miraculous discoveries in the American West has led the attention of the nation to someone who has astonishingly returned from the grave and triumphed in the discovery of not one, but two grand treasures. Benjamin Gates, the renowned treasure hunter reported to have been killed in a motor vehicle crash in Colorado several weeks ago was found on the edge of death hundreds of miles away in the Grand Canyon. The truth to the story of what had really happened to him in the weeks since his apparent death has lead to the discovery of the century. Gates and several of his friends and family have made two miraculous discoveries; The Lost City of Kokato, an ancient Navajo Cultural Center and a vast wealth of gold, silver, jewels and artifacts of historical values beyong their actual values which has come to be known as 'Sophie's Treasure' were discovered in a mammoth cavern beneath the rock formation known as Twin Buttes in the Grand Canyon National Park._

_The truth to what had really happened to Gates and how he came to be discovering these two treasures was uncovered by four individuals whom have relations to Ben Gates and assisted him at his two former discoveries. Dr. Abigail Chase, Gates' long-time girlfriend and director of the conservation department at the Virginia Museum of History in Leesburg was with Gates when he received through the mail the diary of a young Welsh immigrant named Sophie Hughes, who was believed to have immigrated to the United States sometime prior to the civil war. An old legend surrounds the story of her and her family, who have long been said were to have come to the new world in search of a wealth of treasure thought lost since the Spanish Conquest. Gates and Chase, along with Gates' close friend and historical author Riley Poole, were able to decipher the clues to the treasure which they found in the diary they had been sent from an unknown location in rural eastern Colorado. However, when Gates traveled to Colorado to find the origin of the diary, he was abducted by an escaped convict named Ian Howe, whom along with a massive group of hired hands, sought his assistance in finding the treasure so as to clear his name of the crimes he had committed during an earlier acquaintance with Gates. _

_According to Peter Sadusky, lead agent for the FBI, Howe had been a financial supporter of Gates' quest to discover the Templar Treasure in 2006, following which Howe betrayed Gates and sought out the treasure for himself. During the expedition to find the treasure, Gates and Poole resorted to the theft of one of our nations most valued documents, the Declaration of Independence, during which Dr. Chase met the two men and became acquainted with them. Gates' father, Patrick Gates also became involved in the hunt when the three of them showed up at his doorstep in Washington DC with the Declaration, where they discovered that the map and clues to the treasure's location was on the back of the parchment that the Declaration had been written on. The hunt first led them to Philadelphia, where they began to track down the clues to finding the treasure. Using the famed Silence Dugood Letters as a ket, Gates, Chase and Poole deciphered an ottendorf cipher on the back of the Declaration, which led them to Independence Hall, where they recovered a pair of spectacles said to have been invented by Benjamin Franklin himself. Using tinted panes of glass as lenses, the spectacles revealed that the treasure was hidden around the Trinity Church in New York City. Shortly afterwards Ian Howe stole the declaration from the treasure hunters. Before they could retrieve it back, The FBI caught up with them in their investigation towards finding the declaration. Gates was arrested, but Dr. Gates and Mr. Poole managed to escape. From there, they made a banter with Howe through which they were able to get back the declaration and help Gates escape FBI custody. Ian Howe went to extreme measures to ensure Gates' cooperation, even going so far as to abducting Gates' father. The group managed to discover a series of shafts and caverns dug underneath the Trinity Graveyard, during which Gates and his accomplices tricked Howe into believing that the treasure was really in Boston. Taking this into account, Howe and his hired hands stranded Gates, Chase, Poole and Gates senior in the cavern, where they were able to discover the treasure. Afterwards, Gates returned the declaration to the FBI and informed them of Howe's whereabouts, following which Howe was arrested. He was later charged with multiple counts of attempted murder and kidnapping. _

_After Gates was abducted, Howe and his group of hired mercenaries, a majority of whom were illegal immigrants, staged the car accident near Sterling, Colorado to lead the authorities to believe he was dead, after which they contacted Dr. Chase and Riley Poole, demanding the diary from them. When they refused, he sent mercenaries after them. Fortunately, they were able to escape from the Carroll Estate where Gates and Dr. Chase reside together. The men came after them in the middle of the night on June 16, and the two of them escaped using an underground passage, from where they fled from the mercenaries in a small boat on the Potomac River. Gunshots were fired at them as they fled on the river towards Leesburg, during which Riley Poole received an almost fatal gunshot wound to the arm. After their escape, Poole received medical attention at the hospital in Leesburg. While they were there, Dr. Chase contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as Gates' parents, and informed them of the case they were facing. After they were all informed of the situation, Dr. Chase received a phone call from Gates, requesting the Diary. After viewing what looked like Gates had sided with Howe willingly, Dr. Chase was taken back, astonished by his sudden change in behavior. However, shortly afterwards she received a text message from him that he had written several months before. It was a piece of poetry which described the differences between right and wrong placed in a historical context. It was used in a context which only Dr. Chase and Riley Poole would understand. What Gates had actually planned to do was create a diversion and lead Howe and his men away from the treasure. It was shocking to Dr. Chase and the others because they knew what Howe was capable of, and that for Gates, it was literally a death sentence. Using historical data, Dr. Chase and Emily Gates were able to prove that the legend of Sophie Hughes was indeed true, and that there most likely was a treasure out there somewhere._

_With the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Dr. Chase and Riley Poole along with Gates' parents, Patrick and Emily Gates went undercover using the Witness Protection Program in an attempt to locate the treasure and find Gates. Placed under the supervision of Special Agent Tyler Androsky, the four treasure hunters managed to follow the trail of clues in the diary. The trail led them westward along the Colorado River until they came to the Navajo Indian Reservation. They were able to uncover more to the story of Sophie Hughes through the help of an old acquaintance of Emily Gates. From there, they were led to the address of Joseph Salinas, a retired mail courier who lived outside of Kayenta, Arizona with his three grandchildren. Salinas had long held onto an old family story speaking of how a young girl was discovered in the wilderness by his grandfather. He also stated that this wild girl was also his grandmother, as she stayed with him for a long enough period of time to give birth to a daughter before disappearing back into the wilderness. It has since been confirmed that the wild girl discovered by Salinas' grandfather was indeed Sophie Hughes. At the same time, Ben Gates' plan to dilude Howe and his men quickly unraveled and his plan was discovered. When Dr. Chase met with one of his mercenaries to exchange the diary to them, she was given Gates' rolex watch, which unknown to her contained a tracking device, which would unfortunately lead Howe's mercenaries to Arizona, where they killed both Emily Gates' acquaintance and Joseph Salinas. However, his three grandchildren; sixteen-year-old Armando, twelve-year-old Anita, and seven-year-old Josephine witnessed the brutal murder of their grandfather and soon after escaped to find Dr. Chase and the rest of the treasure hunters. The final batch of clues led the team into the Grand Canyon National Park, with the trail ending at the discovery of a large cavern beneath the Twin Buttes rock formation, inside which was the Lost City of Kokato, a Navajo Religuous and Cultural Center thought lost for over four hundred years. They were also met by Howe and his forces. Miraculously, they were able to subdue the enemy forces, but only temporarily. They came to discover Gates trapped in an underground cavern beneath the city, bound in chains and suspended in the cavern, after the mercenaries had used explosives to dam up the river beneath the cavern, causing it to flood rapidly, which was part of their plan to drown Gates before help could arrive. _

_The Climax of the situation came later on after Howe had reassembled his forces. He caught the group of treasure hunters in a tunnel beneath the city, where he re-captured Gates and sent explosives going off on the rock bridge that Dr. Chase and the other treasure hunters had been standing on, sending them all crashing into the river beneath them. Once they got out of the water, Dr. Chase found that the members of the group suffered only minor injuries. From there, she was able to call the numerous FBI agents who were waiting on call for her signal for them to move into the area. They arrived within fifteen minutes of the call and quickly began rounding up Howe's hired mercenaries. Unfortunately, by the time that they caught Howe and found Gates, he'd been severely beaten and shot in the back three times. He was clinically dead when he arrived at Flagstaff Medical Center, but doctors and surgeons were able to stabilize him. After several surgeries, including an open-heart procedure, he was expected to make a full recovery. At the same time, the FBI was shocked and angered to discover that Ian Howe had escaped prison security personell on the way to the maximum security prison in Phoenix pending trial of the dozens of chargesbrought up against him, including kidnapping, attempted murder, stalking, fraud, child endangerment and trespassing. _

_Regardless, Gates was determined to make a full recovery in order to be present at the complete excavation of the chamber where the treasure was located. On August 6, Gates, Chase, Poole and Gates' parents, along with the Salinas children as well as Special Agent Anrosky were all present at the beginning of the excavation of the massive treasure cavern, along with a number of smaller caves and tunnels in which even more treasures were discovered. As of August 12, all of the treasure has been catalogued and treated properly, at a count of 127,311 artifacts, with a combined estimated value exceeding 25 Billion Dollars. The treasures have since been distributed to 313 museums, galleries and archives in 37 different countries. While Gates is expected to make a full recovery from the ordeal with his family and friends, Ian Howe and several of his accomplices are still wanted at large. When asked about his thoughts on the situation with Howe, Gates responded by saying that it didn't matter to him very much. All he cared about was that the people he cared for were safe, the treasures were safe, and the memory of a young girl thought lost forever was finally restored. _

* * *

Gently pushing his reading glasses up the bridge of his nose, Ben glanced through the final pages of a hard cover-bound book with a soft-white cover, the front bearing the title in bold black letters, 'Sophie's Treasure'. In the three months since they had returned home to Washington DC, the story of Sophie's Treasure had finally become a reality. A combination of the legend of her story as it was generally known as well as massive amounts of research had finally resulted in Ben's true goal being achieved. Glancing away from the book in his hands, he took a deep breath and looked out over the Virginia countryside on a clear September afternoon. His eyes fell upon a late-70's era Oldsmobile slowly rolling up the driveway, an Arizona license plate dangling from rusty fastenings on the front. As he looked down, he saw the hand of a young man celebrating his seventeenth birthday in style.

"Abigail!" Ben hollered across the balcony and into the bedroom behind him. "He's back!"

A few moments later, Abigail rushed to the rail and waved both her hands in delight. "How'd she hold up?" Abigail hollered.

"Better than I had expected!" Armando hollered back. "Seven states later and she's still going!"

Abigail laughed as she watched Armando nose his way into a brick garage along the side of the driveway. As he began hauling his bags towards the house, Ben and Abigail saw a ruffled blue blur flash across the yard.

"_M-aa-aaa-aa-ndo!"_ Josephine screamed as she bolted towards her big brother, leaping into his arms. He picked her up and spun her around, her blue dress whipping around. After he put her down, the young girl turned towards the old car parked in the garage. She stood back for a moment and marveled at the fresh coat of red paint and all the new trimmings. "It's so pretty!"

"I thought you might like it." Armando said as he picked up his bags and the two of them began walking into the house. "Where's Anita?"

"Riley took her into Washington to see the Library of Congress again."

"Again?"

"You should see it, Armando!" Josephine squealed. "It's _sooooo _BIG!"

"I'll bet it is, squirt." Armando said.

Ben and Abigail watched as the two of them entered the house and disappeared from view, thinking of how their lives had changed since adding three new members to the family. The thought of them being separated in the foster care system was too much for anyone to bear, so Abigail and Ben stepped in immediately to apply for guardianship of the three Salinas children. At first, they were worried that leaving Arizona and the Navajo Reservation behind them would be too difficult, but the change seemed to help them move towards healing in the wake of their grandfather's death. When asked if the three of them wanted to come back and live in Washington with Ben and Abigail, they were all too quick to say yes. It was hard at some times, especially dealing with three children and Ben still recovering from his injuries at the same time. With a lot of patience, which lucky for Ben and Abigail they had excelled at by being treasure hunters, and a lot of help from Riley, Patrick and Emily, they were on their way towards becoming a family. Just two weeks before, Ben and Abigail had begun the paperwork to commence adoption of Armando, Anita and Josephine.

Ben and Abigail had a small courtroom wedding within days of returning to Washington DC. Although he had to use a cane to help him walk while his injuries healed, he still stood firm on his own two feet and took Abigail as his wife. They spent their honeymoon at Virginia beach, and had since began the rest of their lives together. Aside from the doctor's visits and physical therapy, the one thing which helped Ben to recover faster was having three children with the thirst for knowledge to match his own. When Armando turned seventeen in August, he and Ben took a guy's week off and made a road trip back to Arizona so Armando could get his car. Ben had to fly back to Washington DC to get caught up with his therapy, so Armando had another week to himself to enjoy his car. He'd e-mailed them pictures of Route 66, the oilfields of Oklahoma, the archway at St. Louis, the Mississippi River, the hills of Tennessee and the Cumberland Gap. Ben thought the time alone would do Armando some good. The boy had been through a lot in the passing months.

Anita and Riley had bonded greatly since she'd come to live with Ben and Abigail. Her never-ending thirst for history made her the little sister Riley had always dreamed of having. They'd gone to the branches of the Smithsonian together and spent entire days at the Library of Congress. She loved riding with him in his Ferrari, and during the trips between Leesburg and Washington DC she would marvel at the green landscape. Josephine had also found her own way of coping with the change in her life. As far as she was concerned, the Carroll Estate was a seven-year-old's paradise. She roamed the corridors, explored the rooms and courtyards, and played in the woods and the calm waters of the Potomac river. For the Salinas children, the change from the deserts of Arizona to the backwoods of Virginia was a large change, but just as Ben and Abigail had hoped, perhaps the change would be good for them. While the children were still recoiling from their grandfather's death, they seemed to have taken to their new lives better than expected. In a few days they would be starting at a private school in Leesburg, and considering they had made national headlines in the previous months, there would be a lot of attention aimed at the children. Either way, it would be times of great change for the Salinas children; change they hoped would be for the better.

Shortly after their return from the desert, Riley gave up his old place and moved in with Ben and Abigail and the kids at the Carroll estate. He decided he didn't want to leave his new sister-in-law alone with to care for his injured best friend and three kids all by herself. At first Abigail thought he'd just be a fourth kid to care for, but he really had surprised her by helping out as much as he did. He could relate to the children's grief over the loss of their grandfather, as he had experienced the same loss with his own family. There were many nights when Abigail would wake from her sleep and hear one of the girls crying in their bathroom. She would also hear Riley's calm voice speaking to them to help them calm down. She'd hear him tell them that it was okay to cry and feel sad, tell them stories of his adventures with Ben to calm them down, or he'd read to them from a book or magazine. Occasionally he'd take them down to the kitchen for some milk and cookies late at night. Riley also helped Armando deal with his anger and grief, but in different ways. They would occasionally spend entire afternoons in the garage tinkering around with Riley's Ferrari, preparing Armando for his own role as automobile owner. They would talk as they worked, and Riley would give insight to Armando on his struggles through the stages of grief.

Abigail softly leaned over Ben from behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Do you think they'll be alright here?"

Ben turned his head and looked at her with a cracked smile, and nodded his head gently. "In do time, I believe."

Abigail smiled, gave him a quick kiss and headed back inside to finish up some of her work. After she left, Ben looked back over the open yard of their home and began sinking into a period of thought which always happened when he had a moment to himself. He knew that somewhere out there, Ian was hiding out, waiting for another chance to make his move towards restoring his honor and name. He hated thinking about it, but when he looked at his new family, he couldn't avoid the thought without jeopardizing their safety. He knew what Ian was capable of, and the question was not if Ian would ever return, but _when_. Either way, to pull himself out of that depressive rut in his mind, Ben looked back at the fruits of their labor which rested in his hands, the book containing the story of Sophie Hughes. To him, that book meant that after all those years, she could finally rest in peace. Before he closed the book, he grabbed a pen and scribbled a note on the last page of the book.

"Thank you, Sophie"

THE END

Author's Note

Well, there you have it. I apologize for it taking me so long to finish this chapter, but I figured that I wanted to put as much into this as possible. I hope everybody liked it.

For those of you who did like it, thanks for all the great reviews, and I've got some good news. There's going to be a sequel, so expect another adventure.

RedFalcon2419


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